Filled With Good Works
by Rebel Paisley
Summary: Sequel to "Paved with Good Intentions". Eric just wants his gun back and tries to track it down. Dustin really wants to return it, but everyone else is making that super hard. Excluding Hunter. Hunter's just making angry faces. That's kind've what he does.
1. Forward on the Foe

Chapter 1

Forward on the Foe

Part Two of Intentions-verse.

Disclaimer: I don't own Power Rangers and I am not profiting from this story. It is purely for entertainment purposes.

Summary: Sequel to "Paved With Good Intentions". Dustin wants to return the dinosaur gun. Which is good, because Eric just wants the Quantum Defender back. It would be a lot easier if the rest of the universe would like, help with that. It doesn't, but Hunter does. He'll figure out that's a bad decision later.

Thanks to my two betas, the real vampire and Rogue Ranger for fixing my silly mis-usage of grammar and keeping my plot out of nonsensical lands. You two = the best. This equation is not up for debate; it is a fact.

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So Dustin sometimes forgot about things.

And yeah, it happened enough that no one was terribly surprised when it occurred (which sucked because he really _did_ try) but usually it was over small enough stuff that no one had to sweat it too much anyway.

And then this thing happened, and his friends were kidnapped and Dustin had to quest to save their souls (and the re-telling was far more epic than the actual event; luckily Cyber Cam was super happy with embellishing the tale as opposed to stating the actual _truth_) and then Dustin saved them, and they were free and Dustin _may_ have been so happy/ecstatic/overjoyed/over-enthused/over-the-moon that Cam and Shane and Hunter and Tori and Blake were all _there_ and _okay_ and not damaged in any way, shape, or form to remember that he still had to return a certain borrowed piece of dino-property.

Dustin would like to pretend that he remembered the dinosaur gun the morning after the battle and dutifully went to return it.

The reality was that he discovered it when looking for his favorite sweatshirt about a week later, and it took a couple of seconds before he actually remembered what it _was_.

Which…was kind of depressing if you thought about it, because that also meant he'd left his bike abandoned in the woods outside Silver Hills for like, five days too many. And the dinosaur gun, there weren't many of those (yes, he knew, there was only_ one of those_) so seeing it should have instigated instant mental clickage from point A (gun) to point B (bike) to point C (return gun and retrieve bike), but instead Dustin was just trying to figure out exactly which of his teammates was trying to recruit him for a new nerf-gun war.

He knew it wasn't Cam. Cam had already forbidden _all_ nerf-gun wars. Cam was the reason the supposed-nerf gun had been stealthily stealthed into Dustin's backpack.

It probably wasn't Tori. Tori preferred her wars to include water pistols and super soakers and they had unanimously agreed after the last time she had almost drowned them all that home-element advantage was not fair. She didn't complain, which was pretty cool of her because they all knew Shane sometimes guided the nerf bullets with air currents. They just figured it was a good exercise in teamwork because whoever bribed Shane the best got to win. Yay, go teamwork.

So yeah, not Cam and not Tori. It _could_ be Hunter but-

And _then_ the adventures of dinosaur gun and new-friend Eric immediately came to mind and Dustin remembered that super secret mission he had gone on and ray guns that had been borrowed and-

He needed to return the dino-gun. Definitely. He _also_ needed to pick up his bike (even if he had cloaked it with whatever doodad Cam had given him. Dustin was honestly surprised he hadn't noticed it missing until now but hey, it had been a busy week) and then he needed to trade email addresses with Eric. It wasn't like he actually _needed_ to since Cyber Cam had already downloaded like, all of Eric's contacts and information whenever he was sick, but it never hurt to be polite.

"What's that Dustin?"

Enter Hunter fresh from…something. Wait, yeah, movie night. Dustin was going to do movie night with Blake and Hunter (Cam having to decline because they _might_ have blown out like, half of the power spheres fending off the last alien attack) but Dustin had been cold so he'd gone looking for his favorite sweatshirt and-

Yes, that brought him full circle.

"It's a dinosaur gun," Dustin explained, holding up the life-saving blaster carefully. "I had to borrow it to break you guys out of the doom pot."

Everyone had been completely behind him in naming said doom pot (though they all agreed that Hunter's 'hate-pot-of-stupid' was a close and worthy second).

Hunter tilted his head, studying the dino-weapon.

"That looks like…" he blinked, then leaned closer. "Wait, did you get that from the Quantum Ranger?"

Aloof, casual, _too-cool-to-exert-energy_ Hunter was almost immediately replaced by _omg-this-thing-in-your-hands-holds-the-key-to-__**my-life**_ Hunter and the blond teen was at Dustin's side in an instant, relieving him of the dinosaur gun with the beginnings of some epic fan-boying going down.

"Yeah, Quantum. That's what Cyber Cam said," Dustin replied, snapping his fingers as the thought dawned on him. Man, he sucked at remembering names. "Do you know him?"

Hunter attempted to suppress a look that said Dustin's statement was not _totally_ the stupidest thing he had ever said, but it was awfully close. Probably feeling polite because he was so excited and stuff and Dustin was the coolest person who ever borrowed dinosaur guns _ever_.

"No," Hunter murmured distractedly, running his fingers up and down the sides of the Quantum gun. "He was a ranger a couple of years ago; one of the few public ones. Blake and I used to watch him-"

"Is that what I think it is?"

Speak of the devil. Dustin had about three seconds before his face was full of _floor_ as he was roughly pushed to the side, Blake taking his old spot on the other side of the borrowed ranger weapon.

"Dude Dustin," Blake breathed, huge smile plastered on his face as he eyed Hunter's new toy. "How did you get the Quantum Defender?"

To which Dustin replied, "It has a name?"

Because that was the important part, and then he received two _very_ impatient stares from the Bradley brothers because he obviously needed to _get with the program or __**they **__**would die.**_

Dustin shrugged. "I needed to get a weapon from another ranger to break the doom pot. Eric was the closest."

"Eric?" Hunter echoed, super incredulous and sharing said super incredulous look with his brother. "You're on a first name basis?"

"Well yeah," Dustin replied. "I told him my name and I already _knew_ his name; it wasn't like we had to be formal and-" He stopped as their disbelieving/slightly-in-awe looks got slightly _more_ disbelieving/in-awed. "Seriously guys, this isn't a big deal. We're both rangers."

"Yeah but he's a _public_ ranger," Blake said, getting uncharacteristically passionate about something that wasn't Tori or racing. "One of the few. And he still has an active morpher. He helps run the Silver Guardians in Silver Hills and he's-" Blake shared a quick look with Hunter as though it should be obvious _why_ they were spazzing over friend-Eric. "He's a hero."

"Dude," Dustin said, starting to get confused. "_You're_ a hero too. You don't see me freaking out over being graced with your presence."

"That's different," Blake scoffed, folding his arms.

"What he's saying," Hunter jumped in, eyes back to studying the Quantum whatever-ma-bob. "Is that he's a ranger that's constantly under the public's scrutiny and he _still_ works here. Not like the Space rangers-"

Before Dustin could ask Blake cut in to explain. "They mostly just travel across the galaxy to help others."

"Yeah, yeah," Hunter mumbled, holding the gun up as though he were going to shoot something. "But the Quantum Ranger and Red Time Force Ranger, they stayed here and kept doing what they did best, even if everyone knew who they were."

He put the gun down and stared at Dustin seriously. "You've got to respect something like that."

And Dustin could see it. Because they were ninjas and like, rule number one was to never be seen, never be known or acknowledged. Ultimate secrecy. They couldn't, they literally _could not_ be public rangers; it went against everything they stood for, everything they knew. And besides that, they were comfortable here in the shadows, out of the limelight. It was where they had learned to survive.

Dustin could understand why Blake and Hunter respected the Time Force guys so much now. They had a lifestyle that just was unimaginable for any of the Ninja Storm team and the Bradley's appreciated the hardships the public rangers must encounter for what they were.

Dustin broke the moment of silent contemplation they had fallen into, clearing his throat as he took back the Quantum blast ray.

"Well I need to go back to Silver Hills and return it. And you know," he added, just a little bit quieter. "Get my bike back too."

Blake and Hunter were nice enough guys that they didn't rag on Dustin for his forgetfulness too much (hey, a little was to be expected) and Dustin was in the middle of figuring out exactly _how _he was supposed to get back to Silver Hills when Hunter began dragging him towards the stairway up from Ninja Ops.

"I'll give you a lift there," Hunter explained, and Dustin didn't need to look behind them to know Blake was going too. "No need to bother Tori if we've got perfectly good bikes."

They headed to the bike shed and the younger brother coughed. "Exactly, we can handle this."

Which was the Bradley way of saying they didn't want anyone else to see how badly they were going to fanboy over new-friend Eric, but Dustin didn't comment on that because he was an awesome friend and awesome friends could keep secrets.

They informed Cam and his cyber duplicate before they left; Dustin clinging on to Hunter's back as they hit the open road and made the couple-hour drive to Silver Hills.

This was going to be a fun road trip. He was going to get _so _many pictures.

(Hey, just because he kept secrets did _not_ mean he couldn't have photographic evidence. The world needed proof of Bradley über-excitement, otherwise how would they know it was real?).

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***Two Days Before***

"It's gone."

And that was all the information Wes got after Eric burst through his office door. Not that Wes wasn't grateful for the distraction, because he was doing paperwork and paperwork was the epitome of _awful_, but he could really do with the Quantum Ranger _not_ tearing through all his filing cabinets. Also, he was pretty sure (and by this he meant definitely sure) that Eric was still supposed to be on bed rest, _not_ contaminating the rest of them with whatever super-cold he had gotten infected with.

But Eric had that set in his shoulders that said he was on a mission and Wes knew the only way to deal with Eric in this state was to either help him or knock him unconscious, tie him up, and then force him to watch bad reality television until he either decided his mission wasn't worth it or that his _new_ mission was to destroy Wes.

In all honesty, Wes was leaning towards the second option.

Unfortunately he still hadn't replaced his rope from the last time he had to resort to option two, so Wes went ahead and put his paperwork aside, watching Eric calmly as the other ranger frantically ripped open another one of his filing cabinets.

"And it's not funny," Eric was muttering, continuing under his breath from where Wes had been ignoring him. "_You_ think it's funny because it's the type of thing you would _think_ is funny, which just goes to show your sense of humor is atrocious, don't deny it, we all know it is. You're a child Wes, a _child-_"

"What are you looking for?" Wes asked. Things would go much faster if he could hand over whatever it was Eric thought he had supposedly taken.

Eric paused to glare at him, then went back to digging through Wes' cabinets, making sure to create a mess of things.

If Eric had to suffer, _Wes_ had to suffer.

"You _know_ what I'm-"

"Just tell me," Wes sighed, taking his stupid beret off and getting out of his chair so that if Eric moved to destroy another drawer he could tackle his sorry ass.

If he was well enough to ruin Wes' filing cabinets he was well enough to get _smacked the hell down_.

Eric stopped and glared again but he knew the drill; humoring Wes enough to let the blond in on the joke (_whatever it was_).

"The Quantum Defender."

_And…_

Nope. That had _not_ been what Wes was expecting.

"Why would I take your gun?" Wes asked before he had a chance to think of an appropriate response.

Eric visibly restrained himself from chucking a file at him. "Because you're_ stupid_."

"Let me rephrase that," Wes said, pinching the bridge of his nose because Eric was feeling so…well, Eric-y. "I _didn't_ take your gun."

"Of course you didn't," Eric scoffed, restarting his rummage through Wes' files. "You've just been visiting my house the last couple days and it _vanished_."

"Have you tried-"

"_What do you think my house looks like_?" Eric growled, nose scrunched as he waved a file at Wes threateningly. "I already checked there. _Everywhere_. I thought, hey, maybe Wes hid it. Maybe he moved it. Whatever. But _it's nowhere_." He tossed a file over his shoulder and part of Wes pouted, watching sadly as the papers flop out of it and onto the floor. "So if it's nowhere in my house that means _you-_"

"Are you sure?" Wes asked, because if Eric was right then that meant-

"_YES!"_ Eric shouted, only turning away from Wes to give his cabinet the stink eye; severely tempted to knock it over for _not_ having the Quantum Defender within its bowels but Wes was too occupied to worry about _that_ because-

"Eric I don't have it."

This was not good.

Eric shook his head, turning his attention off the offending cabinet. "I'm not playing games here Wes-"

"Eric," Wes began again, staring the other ranger dead in the eyes. "I _don't_ have it."

They stood there for a minute, Eric's chest heaving with the exertion of chewing out Wes and the blond man feeling slightly numb because-

"Then who does?" Eric asked, even though he knew, he _had_ to know.

"Well," Wes said, knowing he was going to have to break it to the other man. "Who _else_ has been in your house since you've been sick?"

The only way Wes was able to tell Eric was affected when it dawned on him was because he had spent so much time with the other man. He knew the subtleties, knew that Eric was beyond disappointed whenever he figured out-

"The kid," Eric mumbled, locking his eyes on the ceiling because if he _didn't_ they would be on the floor.

Wes nodded and tried to stay focused. "Look, maybe that's just a coincidence."

The look Eric gave him said he wasn't buying Wes' story, not by a long shot, and the old walls began to pull back up.

"Doubtful," he murmured.

Wes shook his head and immediately entered damage control mode. They needed to focus.

"First things first, we use your morpher to track down the Quantum Defender. _Then_ we'll start charging people, okay?"

Eric nodded to show he understood, but Wes could see his mind was elsewhere. Neither one of them could have known what life would be like as a public ranger, they couldn't have known-

"We'll get it back, alright?"

"Okay," Eric murmured.

Alright, good, they had a plan.

Plans were always good.

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So they had two tracks they could take. One was to figure out who the kid was and the other one was to use Eric's morpher to track down the Quantum Defender. Both had an equal likelihood (to everyone but Eric; he insisted the kid was a long shot) to find whoever/whatever had taken the Quantum Defender.

By route of the kid…yeah, Eric wasn't all that helpful. All they had was a name, an age range, and a very rough sketch-up (Wes unsure how much Eric _wasn't_ contributing). They were already searching through all the high school and home school kids that fit the requirements in Silver Hills and the surrounding area but so far they had come up with nothing. What Wes didn't understand, and continued to not understand, was the kid's motive for taking the gun. _If_ he had taken the gun. He had to have known he would get caught right? What was the long-term goal? Was there one? Sure, the kid was a little spacy but…

No, no, Wes was going to go with his gut on this one (and Eric's too, though the Quantum Ranger would never admit it) that the kid was harmless. There were no ill intentions. As unbelievable as it was, the kid and the gun being missing, that was a coincidence. Or if he had taken the gun, he probably didn't mean to do any harm with it.

That didn't mean they would stop looking for him though; if anything they needed to clear him (and maybe give some lectures about breaking into people's homes), but Wes honestly doubted they would find the Quantum Defender on his person.

Which meant they had to go route two: track the gun, which suffice it to say…yeah, they were terrible at it. If two days wasted was any evidence.

Their first plan of attack had been to get a hold of Trip. If anyone could track down the Quantum Defender, it would be him. Getting someone to "pick up" on the other end of their time communicator had been difficult enough though; Time Force, it seemed, was having a bit of a crisis. Nothing that would concern _them,_ but the other rangers were all out on missions, trying to clean up the mess. There would be no help from them.

So seeing as _Wes_ had no idea how to track a piece of weaponry and _Eric_ sure as hell didn't know how to, they were sort of at a very depressing impasse with the universe vis a vis the Quantum Defender situation.

This was when Wes got the bright idea to call up the other reds.

Someone on some team had to have a ranger that specialized in morphers. Just because Wes and Eric couldn't contact their tech didn't mean there wasn't another one out there. And missing weaponry was no laughing matter; they all knew what could happen if it fell into the wrong hands.

Wes started at the top of the list, with Tommy and Jason. Jason they couldn't get a hold of, but luckily they got through to Tommy, and he had just the man in mind to help them.

Of course, he neglected to mention that the ranger he nominated just barely met those qualifications.

For standing in front of them at the entrance of Bio Labs was, lo and behold-

"Another kid?" Eric said, unable to hide his incredulity. "What's he gonna do, tell us how they think?"

Wes elbowed him in the side and kept a smile plastered on his face. He didn't care about age, as long as there were results and Tommy had been _adamant_ there would be results.

"Hi there," Wes said, trying to keep as relaxed as he could while simultaneously dealing with Eric. "I'm Wes."

"And he's Eric, and you're from Time Force," the kid replied, indescribably unimpressed by them, and Eric tensed up.

Great. Fantastic. _Only_ _good things could happen from here._

The kid gave them both a careful once over before nodding his head towards the building. "So one of you guys lost a weapon?"

"It was stolen," Eric muttered, looking to the side.

The kid shrugged. "Whatever. I'm going to need your morpher and someplace to set up."

Wes perked up.

Yes, something he could do.

"We can use my office," he said, probably a little _too_ enthusiastically. The other two gave him questioning looks before following him into the building, up to his office.

"What are you going to do anyway?" Eric asked, hesitating before Wes prodded him to make him hand over his morpher.

The kid didn't notice or, more likely, didn't care.

"Morphing energy," the kid explained while setting up his laptop, "is very distinctive. And it got to a point where the first ranger teams thought that being able to track this energy would be…a useful asset to us, you could say. When they launched Terra Venture, the GSA deployed several communication satellites so the station could keep in contact with Earth. Later on, the Galaxy rangers adapted the satellites so that they could recognize energy from the Morphing Grid." The kid glanced up from them as he began typing something into his laptop. "This new function was a ranger secret, and intended to help the Earth's ranger teams during an emergency. It would also help keep them in contact with each other."

Wes wasn't all that surprised when Eric leaned forward to interrupt the kid. "If it's a ranger secret then why the hell didn't we know about it?"

The kid rolled his eyes. "It was _for emergencies_. Like now. Each set of morphers is created to fight off a specific enemy; it's why we don't have the same rangers fighting over and over again. Each ranger specialized in _their_ morphers. Seeing as we're not allowed to escalate a fight, we can't just call up an army of retired rangers and form a posse okay?"

Which made sense, but it still didn't sit well with Eric. "Fine, whatever."

"Great," the kid muttered, hooking Eric's morpher up to his computer. "Look, it's not personal; it's just if this information falls into the wrong hands-"

"We get it," Wes said, understanding tone. The less people that knew, the better.

That wouldn't stop Eric from moping but…

"So how does it work?" Wes asked, trying to move things along.

The kid, like Eric, stubbornly hid his relief with the change of subject.

"With these satellites I'll be able to locate all of the active morphers on Earth. Then I'll use _those_ as sort of…individual radars." He sat back, fingers finally stilling on his keyboard. "Let me try to think of the best way to put this. Each morpher is connected to the morphing grid and each morpher is unique. Now your gun is connected to your morpher, so while it will have a much fainter signal, it should still match up to your morpher's distinct signature."

"So what, you're just going to look for the two matching dots, is that it?" Eric asked, trying to downplay how impressed he was. Being that he was a jerk about it, Wes would say he succeeded, but the kid, again, didn't seem all that fazed by him.

"Not really," the kid replied. "Your weapon can't give off a strong enough signal by itself. But the morphers, they all use the same energy which means…"

"They're all connected, right?" Wes cut in, excited. "Can they…access each other?"

"Not really," the kid said, shaking his head. "But they _can_ recognize each other."

"So you're going to use the satellite to make them recognize each other?"

This time Eric didn't bother trying to be incredulous. This was too cool.

"In essence," the kid confirmed. "And doing that will sort of…lay down a net, if you will. Since the morphers are all spread out, whichever one is closest to your weapon will help us find it."

"That," Wes began, shaking his head slowly. "That is _really_ cool."

He shared a look with Eric and even though the other ranger didn't say anything, he knew that he agreed.

"_Psh_," the kid scoffed. "It is way past _cool_."

And then Wes realized something.

"Hey uh, what's your name?"

Which they probably should have asked like, you know, _first_.

The kid broke into his first smile, typing away happily.

"It's Justin," he said. "Justin Stewart. Gimme about thirty minutes and we can start looking for your ray gun."

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Endnotes:

This one…yeah, it's not really like its predecessor that much. Aside from being longer there will be more adventure, more science, more Hijinks! Plus an added dose of "Hunter hates the world" and that's a smorgasbord of winning right there.

I don't actually remember what the "In Space" team did after they beat Dark Specter, but flying around the galaxy solving space-crimes seemed like a fair enough assumption.

If I did my math right Justin's like, 18 during this story.

And...yeah, that's all for now. Hope you enjoyed :)

Until next time.


	2. Complicating Complicated Things

Chapter 2

Complicating Complicated Things

Mucho adoration to my two beta's Rogue Ranger and the real vampire for supporting/smacking me down whenever I really need it. I cannot describe how much this is appreciated : )

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The drive to Silver Hills had passed relatively fast, even with Cyber Cam cutting into their communication line (each of them wore an earpiece so they could talk inside their bike helmets; benefits of knowing a tech-wizard) to pepper their conversation with random factoids none of them would ever care about, or worse, dig out old children's songs and imbed them _into their brains_. Dustin knew this was just the program's way of acting out because there weren't any holo-projectors in Silver Hills and Hunter had refused to carry one, so Cyber Cam couldn't, to quote him, _"Project his god-like presence to the unwashed populous so that they too may behold his glory."_ Which, in Cyber Cam terms, was really just his way of saying he wanted in on the high-fives and fist bumps whenever they started getting thrown around. It was all just a part of the bromance.

Hunter had ultimately decided that indulging in cybernetic fist-bumps was not reason enough to make Blake carry the extra backpack.

Blake had been grateful for this. Cyber Cam had pouted. And _now_ they were in an endless loop of _"The wheels on the bus go round and round."_ Not that Dustin particularly minded. He found the constant repetition reassuring in a way. How nice to know the wheels always went where he thought they should go. _Always_.

Hunter was of a differing opinion.

"I'm. About. _To_ _kill him_," the blond grumbled over the off-pitch voice of Cyber Cam.

"Dude," Dustin said, patting Hunter's side as best he could without risking bike fallings-off. "He'll stop eventually. Besides, you can't kill him; there's no body to kill."

"That sounds like a challenge," Blake noted tiredly. Looked like someone had given up on plan 'meditate the evil away'.

Dustin considered this, then altered his argument. "Do you guys really want to make Cam that mad? That's like, an act of war you can _never_ take back." And then, because he knew they were both contemplating it anyway because making Cam mad amounted to a weekend at Disneyland with these two, he added, "It would be like punching me in the face." He paused for dramatic effect, Cyber Cam even lowering the volume of his wails so he could be heard. "And do you _really _want to punch me in the face? For no. Good. Reason?"

They were all quiet, even Cyber Cam for a second before he remembered what he was supposed to be doing, and the other two eventually sighed. Because Dustin was Cam's favorite and he knew it and they knew it and one did _not_ mess with Cam's favorite without fear of swift and very efficient retribution. And considering the fact they both _lived_ with Cam…

Dustin was pretty sure he got his point across.

Cyber Cam would live.

"_Fine_," Hunter sighed, Cyber Cam cheering before going back to cyber-singing, much to the collective dismay of the three motocross riders.

"Is there any way we can _shut him up_?" Blake asked, sounding close to the end of his rope, and Dustin thought about it.

He wasn't very good at computers (as in he-plus-computers usually ended up with someone on fire and, more often than not, it was _him_) but he did listen to Cam whenever he talked about their morphers or Cyber Cam or-

"Oh hey," Dustin said, light bulb going off in his brain. "Isn't there a blocker on our morphers? Like, to jam up communications or whatever in case they're like-"

"Compromised!" Hunter exclaimed, liking where this idea was going. "Yeah, we can just-"

"Dudes," Cyber Cam said, finally stopping his song. "That's only for emergencies. If it's really that bad I'll just stop-"

"You had your chance," Blake murmured and just like that, _'poof'_, the navy ranger was offline.

"Come on guys-" Cyber Cam was saying, but Hunter just shrugged and hit the emergency button, Dustin following in suit.

And just like that, blessed, blessed silence rained down upon them, ruling the night with kind and forgiving hands. _Yes_, Dustin's eardrums could finally rest in peace. It sucked that they wouldn't be able to talk to Cam but-

Well, whatever worked.

It wasn't like this was going to take that long anyway.

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"So _how_ exactly did it all go down?" Hunter asked, he and Blake pushing their bikes along while Dustin tried to remember where his vehicle was. There was a tree that had its trunk split in like three places, and then a fallen log and then-

Dustin scrunched his nose, scanning the forest carefully. "How did what-?"

As though expecting his response (okay, he totally had; Dustin could admit he was predictable), Hunter continued, "Getting the Quantum Defender."

"Oh," Dustin said, pausing to get a closer look at the pile of rocks…No, not his. It was probably further in. "Well, first I drove to the address Cyber Cam gave me."

"Right," Hunter said, nodding to show he understood. Not that Dustin would have _thought_ he would misunderstand but like, Hunter gave the best physical cues and they made Dustin really happy for the times he _didn't_ know what to think. Yeah, social stuff was not his strong point.

"What was he like?" Blake cut in, impatient, and Hunter gave him a mean look.

See, Hunter knew the protocol. Let Dustin tell the story and details will come in time.

Blake shrugged, unapologetic, and Dustin went ahead and answered him anyway. "He was sick. So like, grumpy." Dustin scratched the side of his head. "Actually, he reminded me of you, Hunter. Like, a whole lot. Maybe he's your long lost cousin or something."

And so they wouldn't get off on that particular tangent (because they would, and then they'd formulate theories, and then they'd research them and then it would be three days later and Cam would be frowning down at them for falling asleep on his floor and dirtying his lab up with take out containers, not caring if it was _"For Science!"_), Blake went ahead and focused on the first half of his response.

"He was sick?"

Apparently this was very befuddling to the two Bradley brothers.

Dustin waved off their concerns. "Yeah, like with the flu or something. Anyway he was sick and Cyber Cam said that doom-pot man wasn't doing anything so I made him soup and helped him get better and then I got the dinosaur gun."

"Quantum Defender," Hunter corrected automatically, though his mind was somewhere else. Serious thinking-cap going on there. "So what, he answered the door and you said, 'Hi, I'm a Power Ranger, let me nurse you back to health and by the way, I totally need to borrow your specialized weapon. Don't worry, I'm legit'." Hunter looked at Dustin, eyes narrowed. "Is _that_ what happened?"

_Psf_, Hunter was just jealous that Dustin could actually pull something like that off. He had that effect on people. Yep, when it mattered most he could throw off his social awkwardness and get the job done because he was a super hero and you never saw Batman throwing in the towel just because he needed to give Robin a pep talk or whatever.

…He wasn't exactly sure if that analogy worked.

"Actually," Dustin said, shaking his head. "I never got him to answer the door; he was too sick."

Dustin was about five feet away before he realized that Blake and Hunter had stopped following him. They were frozen still, attempting to hide some seriously concerned faces. Well wasn't that nice of them, all worried about new-friend Eric.

They were such fanboys.

"Dustin," Hunter began slowly, eyes locked on the yellow ranger's. "How exactly did you get in the house?"

Oh, was _that_ what they were worried about?

"Dudes," Dustin said, crossing his arms defensively. "I am not that bad at sneaking. I used the second story window and _no_, I didn't break anything. Thanks." He turned away and started walking again, sure he was going in the right direction. "I can open a simple window without doing any damage now. I've been _practicing_."

In fact, he and Cyber Cam sometimes had contests to see who could do it best (so far the only time Dustin had managed to win involved breaking into the mobile command center, but he was cool with that because it supported the fact that he totally ruled all vehicles).

It took him a few more minutes before he realized they _still_ weren't following him, so with a sigh Dustin turned back around and motioned at them impatiently. They had stuff to do.

"_Guys_," Dustin totally didn't whine. Because he wasn't a whiner.

"Dustin," Hunter said, and the yellow ranger was getting really _sick_ of that special tone he was using. Like Dustin was acting extra slow and he should know things they should know and-

Hunter continued, "Did he _know_ you broke into his house?"

"Don't think so," Dustin replied. Eric had seemed pretty chill about the whole thing. Dustin doubted he would have let a home-invader nurse him back to health except-

"Holy crap," Dustin said, it finally dawning on him. "He couldn't fight back! Dudes," he said, looking back and forth between Hunter and Blake frantically. "I like, forced him to get better! He couldn't do anything about it! He even told me-" Dustin launched forward and grabbed the front of Hunter's shirt. "He even _told_ me to get out and then he threw a box of tissues at me and I'm a bad person, but I don't _want_ to be a bad person! He was sick and alone and I didn't want to leave him there, I didn't-"

The world went a little wonky after that because Hunter grabbed Dustin's shoulders and shook him, hard, which gave the blond teen a chance to talk while Dustin tried to reorient up with down and all that.

"First of all, calm down. You need to focus," Hunter ordered, staring Dustin in the eye. Quite possibly, Dustin wasn't a hundred percent, the world was still shaky. "Now, was…_Eric_ like that the entire time? Did he uh…try to get away?"

"Oh God," Blake sighed, running a hand across his face and Hunter shot him a dirty look. Blake paid him no heed. "Hostage, Hunter-"

"Shut it," Hunter barked and Dustin's heart leapt up to his throat because _hostaging_? He was a hostage-taker of sick people and now he was going to go to jail because he broke into someone's house and made them soup and he was a very, very bad person and not at all a super hero and someone better teach Cyber Cam how to use his morpher because _he_ sure as heck-

"Dustin," Hunter yelled, shaking the brunette again. The yellow ranger blinked, trying to man up and hide his super depressed sad eyes and not at all succeeding by the look on Hunter's face.

"Answer the question," Hunter tried again, once Dustin was a little calmer.

The yellow ranger tried to look back, tried to think…

"I dunno," he murmured, causing both of the thunder rangers to give exasperated sighs. "Look I'm sorry I just- maybe he gave up because I took his phone, or something. But no, he didn't fight me. It wasn't like I was hurting him I just-" He shook his head, feeling _so_ incredibly stupid. "Gave him Gatorade and I cleaned and I made him soup and helped him get around and he seemed cool and the guy on the other end of the phone-"

"What guy?" Blake interrupted, sharing an unreadable look with Hunter.

Dustin shrugged. "I don't know, just, some guy who called to check up on Eric and he seemed cool and he told me to keep doing a good job and not to worry about-"

"What was his name?" Hunter tried, which was stupid because apparently everything Dustin had ever thought about himself was _wrong_ so how would he know about what happened to people he didn't know and-

"I _don't _know. He didn't say his name, I didn't say _my_ name. I guess he could have been Wes-"

And just like that Blake's whole demeanor changed from super concerned/sad/upset to omg-must-fanboy-_now_. "You know Wes?"

And Wes was…? Oh, he was the other guy. The red one.

"Maybe?" Dustin shrugged his shoulders. "Like, Eric said that Wes must have sent me and I didn't say _no_ because he was being a grumpy-pants and the phone guy could have been Wes and he did tell me to keep going so…" Dustin looked back and forth between the two brothers. "Am I still a bad person now?"

He would very much like to not be that right now. It was really doing a number on his psyche.

If the immediate assault of surround-sound laughter was any indication, he probably _wasn't_ a bad guy.

"Hot damn," Blake whispered, manic smile breaking onto his face as he grabbed his brother's shoulder. "I can't believe…I mean, if anyone would be lucky it would be Dustin but…"

"You," Hunter laughed, pulling Dustin into a one-armed hug. "I can't _believe_ your luck."

"So I'm not bad?" Dustin mumbled as their celebration turned into an impromptu group hug.

Dustin was a fan of group hugs, he really wanted to stop worrying so he could sit back and enjoy the moment. Hunter didn't participate in group hugs all that often.

"Nope," Blake replied, more cheerful Dustin had ever seen him. "You are just one lucky son of a gun."

"Okay, okay," Hunter began again, when the relieved laughs died down and they all had a chance to breathe. "Now we've got something we can work with. Dustin…" He turned towards the yellow ranger. "I'm assuming he didn't know you took the gun?"

"He was asleep," Dustin confirmed.

Hunter smiled so he figured that was the way right answer and he smiled too. This was much better. Yay for not being an evil, hostage-taking burglar!

Because that was not a happy title to have.

"Fantastic," Hunter said, rubbing his hands together. Dustin almost wished they still had Cyber Cam around to record that. Hunter almost never used the word 'fantastic' non-sarcastically. Said it gave him hives.

Hunter continued, "We'll just…sneak the gun back into his house, somewhere where it could have been believably misplaced, and then we'll leave and _never_ come back."

"Can't we just explain we're power rangers?"

They stopped and contemplated Blake's suggestion, Hunter turning towards Dustin as he fully evolved into leader mode. "Did you happen to mention…?"

"No," Dustin replied bashfully. Okay, mission break-the-doom-pot _hadn't_ been a total success. This was why they had post-mission debriefs, so they could cover these kinds of mistakes so they wouldn't happen again.

In Dustin's defense, out-of-team ambassadoring _hadn't_ been in the job description when it came to saving the Earth so…not totally his fault.

Just _mostly_.

"Alright," Hunter said, looking off into the distance as his mind began churning up a plan. "Don't worry about it. First things first, we find your bike. After that we'll track down this Eric guy. _You_-" This was aimed at Dustin. "-are staying incognito on the off hand chance there's a warrant out for you or something." Hunter placed a comforting hand on Dustin's shoulder as the brown-haired teen paled at the thought; warrants, he could have _warrants_… "Don't worry about it, happens to the best of us-"

Blake was incredulous to this. "The best of us get warrants?"

Hunter shot him an irritated look and the younger brother snapped his mouth shut, looking off to the side innocently to avoid further wrath.

"Look," Hunter said. "We find the bike, we go to town, we return the Quantum Defender. There is no reason for this to get any more complicated than it already is. Got it?"

If there were any two people who were more gettable than Dustin and Blake were at that very moment, Dustin would like to meet them. Because they would have to be mystical forest people who only existed on this plane of reality every other Tuesday _that_ was how inconceivable the idea of more-gettable people existing was.

"Got it," Dustin and Blake replied, just so that Hunter could hear the affirmative.

Dustin figured it was the least he could do.

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"I think we might have a bit of a problem here."

The kid hadn't spoken much since he had set up the uh…morpher net, Wes was going to go with. He had pretty much ignored Wes and Eric after he decided he was done with explanations. Which was fine, whatever worked, except Eric refused to _leave_ so Wes couldn't leave purely based on the other two's past interactions (someone would probably end up strangled, or shot, and Wes had a feeling it would be Eric) so the two co-leaders inevitably ended up playing about eighteen games too many of "Go Fish".

Wes could tell Eric was miffed by this. He could tell Eric would rather be hovering over Justin's shoulder and watching the tech work on things he could never hope to understand, and probably criticize the work he didn't understand, because it was just _one_ of those days. But Wes (for reasons he was slowly beginning to not care about) couldn't let that happen because it could lead to the strangling and the shooting and it turned out he was really bad at losing at "Go Fish". And he was trying _very_ hard. He had given up all pretense of winning the moment he had sat down. He had asked for cards that were _not_ in his hand, he had played the dumb-blond shtick and asked for the same card like, three times, and as it turned out, that was a pretty fool-proof way to beat Eric. It was actually getting depressing. Wes had switched to actually playing to win about half-way through. Turned out that only sped up the process of Eric's losing. He had suggested switching to another game about four times, but _no_, Eric's honor had been offended. He would not stop until it had been avenged.

On the bright side, Eric was now adequately occupied. At least, sort of; he still leapt at the chance of news on his missing weapon. Even if it was bad news, at least it was _something_.

And now, because Eric loved actions movies and formulas and found that certain clichés were comforting, the Quantum ranger would say-

"What kind of problem?"

And the world would keep turning.

Wes calmly walked to Justin's other side, studying the monitor while Eric's face hovered inches away from the screen, studying it with absolute fascination. Wes pulled him back before Justin could (and definitely would) comment on it. Apparently this problem, whatever it was, was enough of a distraction to keep Justin from noticing Eric's actions.

The kid typed away at his keyboard irritably, then motioned to the screen, annoyance in his voice. "Your weapon's energy signature isn't showing up."

Wait but Wes thought-

Eric cut to the chase before he did. "What the hell is that supposed to mean?"

That was not a good tone; it was a beyond-irritated tone that he used to mask some heavy nerves. Losing…well, the Quantum Defender getting stolen was bad enough and having to resort to outside help was bad too, but complications-

It would probably be best if Wes took over the question-asking from here.

Justin shrugged, studying the screen. "It means…look, there's some kind of disturbance. Something's messing with the satellite readings okay?"

Wes shared a look with Eric. "Can they do that? Whoever…_they_ are?"

Justin spared him a quick look before typing in…something. "It's possible," he said frowning, whatever had appeared on the screen apparently unsatisfactory. "It's not…Originally I was looking for your weapon's energy signature which would be amplified through the closest active morpher, right?"

Wes remembered having these kinds of conversations with Trip. Even if he had no clue he knew how to answer.

"Right."

Justin took the prompt, tapping a point on the screen impatiently. "Well _instead_ of a beacon I'm getting the opposite."

Which would be…what exactly?

Eric figured it out before Wes did.

"How the hell would you know it's the opposite?" he asked, knuckles tensing around the edge of the desk. "Wouldn't it just be nothing? How do you know that's special?"

He had a point. But Wes figured Justin already knew that so…

The kid glared at Eric. "I didn't; that's what I've been working on for the past _two hours_." He turned back to the screen and frowned, typing up a new set of…equations, maybe. "When I didn't pick up anything on the initial look, I dug deeper, trying to figure out what could be wrong. I ended up at the satellite-"

"Looking at the net?" Wes couldn't help cutting in. He knew the kid had a much more complicated name but the blond's head was starting to hurt so-

Justin gave him a patient look but didn't correct him. "Yes. And it's…" He tilted his head to the side, eyes squinted in thought. "Think of it like dumping paint onto a canvas. If there's something blocking a portion of the canvas, then that area remains dry."

Wes shared a look with Eric, who was _also_ trying, in vain, not to feel like a dumb jock. "You've lost us."

It appeared that Justin was expecting this.

The kid sighed and motioned to the screen where he pulled up a helpful visual aid. It looked like a map of California, littered with small glowing points of differing colors.

_The morphers_, Wes noted.

"Think of it this way," Justin began, typing in a keyboard command. As prompted, all the glowing dots started reaching out towards each other; tiny, ethereal lines interconnecting all of them.

_The net_.

Justin pointed at the screen. "We're laying out a net with the morphers. Now if something is…disrupting the morphers from accessing each other, then we have a hole in the net." He pointed to a section of the screen Wes hadn't noticed before, close to Silver Hills. It was a blank space, no lines passing through or little dots which Wes supposed wasn't all that weird, California was really big, but-

Wes leaned closer to the screen. True, there weren't any lines passing through Justin's specified area, but it looked like-

It looked like they were trying to but couldn't, like something was repelling them.

"That hole," Justin explained, tapping the specified area. "That dead space is where your weapon is right now except something's blocking the signal." He sighed and rubbed the side of his head, giving Wes a tired look. "Without a complete net, this thing just got a whole lot more difficult to find."

But how could that happen? How could something block the-

"Wait a minute," Wes began, not liking where this was going. "Just hold on here. If the net's comprised of all the active morphers wouldn't that mean that some of the _morphers_ are being blocked?" That's the only way he could think to explain it. "If that's the case, couldn't we just like, contact all the active rangers and see which ones are missing. If there are rangers in trouble-"

Eric flexed his hand slowly, quietly letting out a breath of air to calm himself. "This mess just keeps getting bigger and bigger."

It shouldn't be surprising. This _was_ bigger than just some fan-kid breaking into Eric's house. This was missing weapons and missing rangers and-

Justin shook his head at Eric's antics. "Mope all you want but Wes has a point. There could be a ranger that needs our help."

"But how would…" Wes tried to think of the best way to phrase it. "Would our enemies _know_ to block the signals? What would it…?"

Justin nodded thoughtfully; _yes_, it _was_ a good question. "A morpher from the same team would still be able to track it down, no satellite necessary. An enemy wouldn't achieve anything by blocking off rangers."

So the gun thing _could_ still be coincidence, and the satellite wasn't compromised, but if it _was_ in the dead-zone…

_Ugh_, this was making his head hurt. Wes looked at Justin. "So what do we do? Is there some way you can…I don't know…"

The kid stared at him with determined eyes, hands anxious on the keyboard. "I can narrow down the area where the hole is."

Good, at this point it was sort of…well, large.

Justin studied the screen. "After that we could…if we drew in some active rangers closer to that area then we might be able to find the Quantum Defender, and maybe the blocked off rangers."

Oh, _ohhh_-

Yeah, Wes could practically see Eric's day going down the toilet.

The blond smiled at his partner. "Looks like we get to call the band back together."

Justin smirked as though he knew (and he probably did) how much Eric loathed the thought. "And then some."

The Quantum ranger glared at Wes as though he were the source of all his misery. Which, for the record, he wasn't.

Just for _most_ of it.

"Great." Eric mumbled, resisting the urge to put his head in his hands. "Just _great_."

Wes couldn't help clapping Eric's arm in fake enthusiasm, smiling widely at the glare he received in return. "Don't worry about it Eric, it'll be fun."

And besides, he would have at least a day of peace before the other rangers started showing up. Wes would call Leo first, since he had the farthest to travel (and Eric _might_ just hate him the most).

As though sensing his thoughts, Eric gave up all pretense and lowered his head into his hands, massaging the sides of his head.

"I freakin' _hate_ reunions," he grumbled.

_Don't worry_, Wes thought, _the feeling is __**completely**__ mutual._

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* * *

Endnotes:

So yes, we have a ranger reunion instigated by the fact the Bradley's don't want to listen to Cyber Cam sing.

_Oh_ the shenanigans.

I have no claims to understanding science or signals or the science _of_ signals and I am shamelessly winging all concepts in this story that misuse/misunderstand/mis-whatevah's any science/signal related thing-a-maboppers.

Thank you to Mathias and Heaven's Archer for reviewing last chapter! Dustin and Justin happy dance times for all! So it has been decreed, so it shall be.

Until next time.


	3. Just Another (Unintended) Stroll

Chapter 3

Just Another (Unintended) Stroll through the Park

Warning: Adult Language (Hunter starts dropping some F-bombs. It's just what he does).

Epitome of thanks to my two beta's the real vampire and Rogue Ranger for being proof-reading wizards. And content wizards. And just all-around fabulousness. It is much appreciated.

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They eventually managed to find Dustin's bike, which was good.

They _also_ managed to find a secure location that could be easily found and was adequate for housing all of their bikes while they went to return the "borrowed" _(stolen) _Quantum Defender, which was also good.

The moment things ceased to be good was the moment they attempted to make it into Silver Hills the-actual-city as opposed to Silver Hills that-large-area-of-trees/forest/mountain-caves-that-just-_happened_-to-congregate-on-the-outskirts-of-town (also rumored to house the Q-Rex, these rumors derived from two years worth of late-night theories shared between the two Bradley brothers). Because as luck would have it (or not; Hunter's belief because Dustin had just come upon a _miraculous_ streak of good fortune so it was only logical for fate to come and kick them in the balls) the very act of leaving the city they were supposed to be protecting was something that Marah and Kapri found to be the _most interesting thing in the world. _And the only logical way to respond to this interest was to investigate it. You know, with robots, and kelzaks, and a big, fluffy, pink monster-thing that looked like a cross between and airplane and a gorilla which was, by unanimous decision, two things that should _never_ be combined. Just for future reference.

Hunter was sort of hating his life right now. Screw it if he never met Eric Meyers, he would rather not be running around with a possible fugitive. Seriously, Dustin needed to stop accidentally committing crimes_._ There were _limits_ you know.

So they ended up fighting, and then they ended up morphing and then they ended up _unmorphing_ and then, of all things, they ended up running because for some _stupid_ reason they couldn't figure out how to undo the freaking emergency blocker (which should be as simple as _hit the button again_) so they couldn't call for back up and they were kind've getting hammered so-

There was no shame in making a tactical retreat.

This was the steady mantra Hunter had to keep repeating over and over again as airplane/gorilla hurled ancient and perfectly innocent trees at them, or worse, hurled _them_ into some perfectly innocent trees. So now they were demorphed and on the run (_no shame-no shame- no shame_) and looking for a nice place to hide out, to keep safe until the idiot sisters accidentally blew themselves up or something and then they could return the stupid gun and Hunter could go home and spend a couple hours yelling at Cam for the "_inefficiency of his stupid equipment"_ which would be total poetic justice for the time the green ranger had ragged on Hunter for screwing up the Tsunami cycles. Honestly, he had just been trying to help which was _perfectly reasonable_ and he would show Cam what it was like to be an unforgivable douchebag on the road of good intentions.

But…sidetracked. Yes, he was getting sidetracked.

It was running time.

"Up ahead," Blake breathed over the com, relief evident in his voice. Hunter hadn't really seen either of his teammates in the past few minutes. Dustin was an occasional blur in his peripheral and Blake must have taken point; more agile and better at dodging the airplane/gorilla's tree attacks.

"What is it?" Hunter managed to get out and then hey- tree in face, and the next few seconds were spent reacquainting his feet with the tree branches they were streaking through, Dustin making an unintelligible sound of concern as the crimson ranger reoriented himself.

"I'm fine," the blond huffed, even if his ribs did _not_ agree with that statement. "Blake, what have we got?"

"Either a shallow crack in the mountain or a secret entrance to a cave, from here it's about sixty-forty chance."

"Is the sixty on the good option?" Dustin asked, and this time Hunter could see him flip away as a tree whirled past him, slamming into more innocent, bystanding trees.

"Sure," Blake replied, drawing the word out because he clearly _did not_ believe in this answer and Dustin sighed or huffed or like, made a sad noise only Dustin would make while their murders were becoming less hypothetical and more immediate.

Hunter frowned. "Just give us a direction and everyone shadow battle their way to it, okay?"

Yes, he knew that wasn't normally how they rolled-

"But what are we battling?" Dustin asked, confused.

"The air, the leaves, I _don't care_ just get over there without being seen!" Hunter winced; he definitely had some bruised ribs going on. _Damn_, he hated those. "Everyone clear?"

Twin calls of "Roger" was their immediate response.

Without further prodding Blake went ahead and gave them the crack/cave's (okay, that shouldn't be funny, but seriously, _crack cave_, druggie's paradise) position: two o'clock hidden behind some massive shrubbery.

Hunter gave the cue, initiating the ninja shadow battle (harder, _damn_, he had gotten too used to doing this morphed; he was going soft) and was immediately gratified to find that yes, there _was_ a crack in the side of the mountain (from his viewpoint that had been hypothetical at best; had to rely on Blake completely, not that he didn't just- it was nice) and yes, it _did_ lead to a cave and _YES_, they successfully managed to escape the ding-bat duo plus entourage and hiding and recovering and bashing the hell out of the emergency com-block button (yes, he knew it wouldn't help; he was doing it anyway) could now be enjoyed by all.

"Further in," Hunter muttered, motioning to his two compatriots to continue deeper into the crack/cave _(still funny)_ despite the dwindling light. They could handle the darkness but, if Marah and Kapri managed to track them down, they would not only have limited mobility, they would _literally_ have their backs to the wall whenever they ran out of cave to explore. Best to get away from the light for now, sit tight and regroup. After that he could figure out the next course of action.

Of course, this was all before the floor decided to give out from under them, and it was a straight drop down the twenty foot rabbit hole, ending with rocks, rocks, and yes- more rocks in uncomfortable places, and _more_ scratches and bruises and ribs that _were not pleased_, no sir, they were not.

Hunter honestly shouldn't have been surprised by how quickly things had devolved. It had been a simple trip. He and Blake were going to meet one of their idols and yes, _yes_ he could even say that with complete seriousness and not a shred of sarcasm because Eric Meyers was _awesome_ and that should never be forgotten. He worked on his own while the other rangers were- well, anyway, now was not the time for this because he could honestly go on and on and _on_-

"Dude." This came from Dustin, voice disbelieving but coherent (good, no head injuries) and when Hunter turned his head to give the yellow ranger's physical condition a once over he realized that it was a lot easier than it should have been, being that…well, they were supposed to be in the dark.

And at the moment there was an undeniable, slightly ominous red glow bathing over the three of them.

He didn't want to do it. Hunter _didn't_ want to turn his head and look at whatever Dustin was looking at because this day was too weird, even by _their_ standards and if he turned his head that would only invite doom and misfortune and more weirdness to be piled onto their day and Hunter didn't want that, he didn't want that _at all_. Right now he only wanted some ice cream and _maybe_ to pass out on the Ninja Ops couch while Tori and Blake argued over the worst qualities of the movie they were watching and Dustin and Shane chucked popcorn at each other while Cam made disapproving noises and Hunter mocked them all unceasingly, or at the very least until one of them gave up and re-filled his ice cream bowl.

Those were good times. Those were _happy_ times.

And once Hunter turned his head, he would gleefully stab Eric Meyers in the neck to return to those happy times and pretend none of this had _ever_ happened.

The source of light was unmistakable; two gigantic narrowed eyes that Hunter and Blake were far too familiar with to ever think of mistaking with another zord.

_Behold mere mortals, for here stands the Q-Rex in all its metallic, heavily-_ _weaponized glory._

"Seriously?" Hunter asked, to no one in particular, maybe the universe.

His brother, curse him, gave as enthusiastic a cheer as he could manage after falling onto a pile of rocks. "I _knew_ it," Blake laughed and yep, there it was, the happy I-know-things dance, limited to one arm and some cheerful head bobbing because, you know, _rocks_.

"Dude," Dustin called, also enthusiastic, and they exchanged high fives, completely oblivious to the badness that _could_ fall upon them.

Did the Q-Rex have some kind of security mode for things like this? Did it think they were just random civilians? Would it leave them alone? Would it be upset for finding its hiding place? Did it have some kind of hook-up to the Quantum ranger that would make him recognize Dustin and _then_ they could possibly be taken off to jail or-

Hunter sighed, flopping his head back against his cushion of dirt and rubble. "I hate everyone who's not me."

He honestly did.

Dustin turned towards him, bottom lip jutting out in that subconscious, you-have-desperately-wounded-me way that was more than effective for bringing on the guilt. "_Dude_," he murmured, obviously hurt, and Hunter's jaw clenched.

"Say _something else_."

It wasn't Dustin's fault, he really shouldn't- these things _happened_. And it wasn't nice and it wasn't fair but it happened. Just- it happened to them a little more often than it should. Hunter could complain about that right? There should be a limit.

Dustin, who had become accustomed to Hunter-time, shook off his discomfort as quickly as usual, turning his attention back to the giant metal dinosaur that was giving them an undeniable stink eye. "Well uh…do you think he recognizes the gun?"

_No, because it's in __**your**__ backpack_-

But instead of saying this (because maybe that thing could hear and reason and he didn't _want_ to get dino-cannoned) Hunter gave Dustin a baffled look. "What?"

Dustin shrugged. "Like, I could sense the morphing energy right?" Right, Dustin had said something about that whenever he first got the Quantum Defender. "Well, couldn't the zord sense we have the gun? Since they're like, used by the same guy?"

Like they were all part of the same system. Cam had said something about that once, how the zords and the tsunami cycles all ran off of the Wind/Thunder power so they could all be recognized by each other, so if the Q-Rex and the Q-Defender-

Distantly, Hunter seemed to recall that the Quantum Ranger didn't actually _pilot_ the Q-Rex, he just told it what to do, but even without his input it was perfectly capable of choosing its own course of action because it was sentient and-

_They were so screwed_.

As though hearing Dustin, and it probably did, check the sentience thing, the Q-Rex leaned forward and stared them down, like it had just become aware of a certain fascinating tidbit that could have _something_ to do with his ranger.

Blake, impressively enough, did not swallow at the zord's posturing, though by his tone Hunter could tell he really wanted to. "…Do you think he'll be friendly about it?"

And that was the cue, it seemed, for Q-Rex to throw his head back and _roar_; an ear-splitting, cave-rattling, you-are-going-to-die-now _roar_, and the three ninjas set off like rockets, pulling their limbs out of loose rocks and dirt and shooting towards the lower opening of the cave, this huge, monstrous towering thing of a tunnel that the Q-Rex must use for access. They ran like there was no tomorrow, probably because if they _didn't _ there _wouldn't _ be, and wasn't that philosophical? Hunter would write that down if breathing wasn't becoming such a damn issue.

To his credit, Dustin _did_ sound mildly abashed as he gave Blake his answer while once more ducking and weaving through the trees as they escaped a new enemy, "Doesn't look like it."

So the Q-Rex didn't like thieves. _No fucking shit_.

Hunter groaned and held back a wince, keeping the other two rangers in eyesight and counting down the seconds until their morphers would be recharged and ready for another go.

He grit his teeth, bitterly repeating, "Everyone who's _not_ me."

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Wes watched as Eric all but pouted in his corner of the room, the Quantum ranger steadfastly refusing to put forth any contribution to mission _"Calling on the major players"_ (and yes, Wes had named it, look at him being all clever (or not clever, which would annoy Eric the most)).

What Eric failed to realize was that if he had at least _tried_ to call some of the past teams he could have dissuaded at least half of them from coming through pure gruffness and underdeveloped social skills. He would have missed all conversational cues. He would have ordered in that militaristic way he always ordered and most of the rangers (Except for Carter, and probably Andros, who were more helpless than Eric was), mission or not, would have hung up on him.

With Eric standing out of the way the weight of the calling was left to Wes, who had learned a thing or two about networking and the power of a well-versed "pleasant" voice. So far he had only met with success.

He hit up Leo first, who promised to call Andros and then he contacted Carter while Justin attempted to track down the old Zeo and Ninjetti rangers, all of whom still possessed active morphers. The Lightspeed Team was closest and would be in Silver Hills by the end of the day and Leo had sworn up and down that the Space teams would be Earthside by the next day at the latest.

Justin had the most trouble, surprisingly enough, since the earlier ranger teams were spread out all over the country. Ten minutes in he gave up and deigned that Tommy's problem, deciding that three teams of rangers would be more than enough for what they needed, so it didn't really matter if they showed up at all (and based on the way he vindictively smashed at his keyboard while explaining this, Wes got the feeling the kid wasn't all that fond of those guys anyway. Some unresolved issues, right there).

The only team unaccounted for was the current one, the uh…ninja team, that was it, over in Blue Bay Harbor. Justin was focusing his efforts on their part of the morpher net, trying to figure out some way to contact them. With all the old teams accounted for, it had to be one of the rookie's that was missing or blocked or…well, Wes didn't want to make any assumptions. New or not, a ranger was a ranger, and the faster Justin hacked into their network (Wes didn't bother to ask how he discovered there _was_ a ninja network, let alone how he would get into it) the faster they could solve this baby and give everyone some peace of mind.

Now, Wes wasn't an expert but uh…based on the borderline-murderous look Justin was giving his computer screen, the ninja network hacking was not going as swimmingly as he had hoped. There was definitely some muttering going down over in the kid's general direction, followed by some rapid typing and some side-screen hitting and some fist shaking and-

Honestly, Wes was impressed at the range of expressions the kid could demonstrate from his position hunched over his laptop; even Eric had taken a break from sulking to watch the show in mild fascination.

"What the hell-what the hell-_what the hell_," the kid muttered, tugging at his hair in frustration, "I can't get a lock on-"

"You can't hack it?"

Wes regretted the words as soon as they were out of his mouth, wishing they were physical items he could pull out of the air and shove back into his brain because the pure look of venom he received in return promised many and much hells to pay as soon as Justin was done decimating his computer fiend.

Honestly, what did he know about computers? Was it nothing? Oh yeah, yep, it was pretty much nothing.

And Justin was well aware of this fact.

"Oh, I can hack it," the kid promised, pulling his glare away from Wes as he turned back towards his laptop. "It's just going to take _longer_ than it should but I'm going to hack it. If I have to stay up _all night_, if I have to hunt down the bastards myself I. Will. _Find_. It. And _then_ I will kick some ass because-"

He stopped mid-sentence, hands hovering above the keyboard as his eyebrows drew together in a perfect picture of befuddlement, temperament going from hot to curious in a matter of a second.

The fact that it took more than a second, more than a few seconds, going on thirty, going on a minute, for Justin to snap out of it was something that greatly worried Wes. Watching the kid in frozen contemplation, his mind processing and attempting to compute what was, to Wes' knowledge, something he had a complete mastery of couldn't prelude any kind of happiness for them. Throwing the Sensei for a curveball required doing something completely out of the box, or something just…well, _awful_, and based on the past few days they'd had…

Wes had an unpleasant feeling that whatever the kid was staring at was not going to be particularly pleasant for him or Eric.

"Eric," the kid said at last, tapping his finger against the laptop's screen like he was confirming the existence of something. "Did you by chance call the Q-Rex out to play?"

Eric huffed, opened his mouth for a snappy retort and paused, shutting it, realizing that the rhetorical nature of the question and what it indicated, because if what Justin was seeing was _"the Q-Rex out to play"_…

Eric was at the kid's side in a flash, leaning over the younger man's shoulder at the indicated portion of the screen, a dot, far larger than the others, plowing through the Silver Hills Forest.

"He's out?"

"Who called him?"

Came Wes and Eric's twin questions, simultaneous and panicking because seriously, this was their day, this wasn't the beginning of something big or _perhaps_ could lead to some wicked master plan, this was legitimate, Q-Rex acting on his own, still on map, perceiving some kind of threat.

"You two better get out there," Justin murmured, but he needn't have bothered because Eric was already out the door, heading outside the building to call on the TF Eagle and figure out what the hell was going on. Wes was half a step behind him, planning to catch a ride on the Eagle's wing, and wondering for the fiftieth time that day just what the hell was going on.

If this was the kind of crap the new ranger team had to deal with, then Wes wished the best of luck to them.

He did not like where this was going.

He did not like this at all.

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Cyber Cam persisted in making himself a proper nuisance all morning, pouting over his inability to contact Dustin and the Bradley brothers. He had earned his fate and Cam was acutely aware of this, though his actions alone did not justify the countermeasures Hunter (he was ringleader, of this Cam was certain) had decided to exercise. The signal blockers were still in beta-testing, and while Cam knew the science behind them was solid, he was…fearful of the execution.

Truth be told, he had shafted the signal blocking project in preference of other upgrades: power spheres, the teleporter, and Zord enhancements. The blockers themselves had been more of an academic foray motivated by intellectual curiosity, a practice to see how familiar he was with the actual morphers and morphing energy. His end goal was to come to a full understanding of the morpher's components to perhaps, one day, create a set of his own. Should the need ever arise.

But that was all…theoretical, to be studied at a later date. For now Cam would take small steps, carefully gathering data, and maybe make the mistake of sharing functions that _were not thoroughly tested_ to a couple of imbeciles who just assumed whatever Cam put out would function perfectly.

He was flattered by their unyielding (and for the most part, well placed) faith in his abilities.

He was indescribably _pissed_ they had wasted his hard work in what was definitely not an emergency situation.

Cyber Cam would get no sympathies from his creator, nor would the three idiots (affectionately named) that were wasting time on a field trip when they inevitably broke something they couldn't fix and were unable to contact Cam because of their own ineptitude.

And Cam had (no honestly, he had, he was _not_ agonizing over this) pushed all thoughts of the three rogue rangers out of his mind. He did not care what happened to them; surely they were not so incompetent they couldn't return a gun. Hunter had enough steady threats from the rest of the team for Dustin's safe return or the hell to be paid upon failure of this; no threats necessary for Blake, that was self motivated, and after those two were taken care of Cam honestly didn't care about Hunter's condition (which was a sentiment that was _greatly_ returned, if not instigated by the other party).

With that worry out of mind (yes, it was, he refused to waste anymore time on it), and Cyber Cam's constant whining cut off upon threat of permanent muting, both Cam and his Cyber duplicate were aware enough to be able to detect an attempted breach of the Ninja Ops system.

It was…to be perfectly frank, the first attack of this nature. Not that Cam was unprepared; he and Cyber Cam guarded their system fiercely on the off-hand chance Lothor got someone who was technologically gifted, and even before _that_ had become a theoretical threat, the idea of a civilian accidentally stumbling upon their network…

That would be unacceptable.

They warded it off easily enough; between Cyber Cam's raw power and the green ranger's ability to perceive and adapt to the would-be intruder's attacks (and there were multiple, and this _did_ worry him) the Ninja Ops network remained unbreached.

When the hacking attempts continued and their countermeasures appeared to be insufficient at dissuading the intruder's efforts, Cam called on Shane and Tori to make their way towards Ninja Ops.

There was the beginnings of something bigger here. Something they should get prepared for.

They had work to do.

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Endnotes:

I know, this chapter's a little um…expository? But it gets better next time, cross my heart. (And by better, I mean Hunter gets grumpier, and it is absolutely faboo).

Thanks to Heaven's Archer for reviewing last chapter! I'm glad it made you laugh. Extracting laughter = life's super joy.

So Rogue pointed out that the Bradley bros sort of have a fixation on Eric being the bee-eist of knees while Wes is pretty much chopped liver. His exact words were:

"Why is Eric so much better than Wes? _"Oh, that Eric, he's so dreamy! Oh, yeah, and that Wes guy is okay too, but he doesn't have a dino gun and he never got sick. Unlike Eric…and his studliness…" _*thunders swoon*"

And really, I just can't think of a better explanation than that.

(Except that maybe they relate to his struggle more or (maybe just maybe Eric is my most favorite of the two, *not blatant favoritism*))

Until next time!


	4. We Can't Stop Here, It's Q-Rex Country

Chapter 4

We Can't Stop Here, It's Q-Rex Country

Hey, the fact that I'm a slash-writer comes out in this chapter. I held off for like, three chapters guys. Gotta give me points for that. Anyway…

Sorry for the delay, but I have been bombarded by tests and camps and a sneak cold (which I'm certain I got through Rogue via the internet, I just _knows_ it), so I'm not sure when the next chapter will be up either. The good news is it's written and hey, we get to see some of those other rangers I hinted at coming into existence, so there's that.

Special love and thanks (it's like super-sized love, but _spaaaayshale_) to my two beta's Rogue Ranger and the real vampire for keeping me on the straight and narrow. And also the story. They help with the story too ; )

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"So," Hunter began, gasping in between the pointed throbs his chest seemed so insistent on sharing. "Apparently my first reaction when dealing with a giant dinosaur robot that has no other intents than doing me bodily harm is to make a very detailed list of the people I want to kick in the face. I'm not sure what this says about me as a person."

"Cam would say you have violent tendencies," Dustin yelled helpfully in response, giving Hunter an innocent, wide-eyed look over his shoulder before he focused on running again. "But I just think you're having a bad day."

"No really?"

Oh, there Blake was. It looked like he was doubling back because of how much farther ahead he had gotten.

"So is Cam first on the list?" the younger Bradley brother asked. "Or is it the Q-Rex? Are we pretending Q-Rex is a person?"

"No," Hunter spat, momentarily fighting for air as he jarred his foot against a tree branch, knocking the wind out of him. It was not lost on him that the lead they had established earlier was slowly but surely diminishing and he knew it was because of him. The other two rangers hadn't commented on it, out of stubbornness or denial of reality or for whatever reasons but eventually Hunter was going to have to tell them to leave him behind and Blake would vehemently refuse and Dustin would simply be more determined to stick to the blond's side and then they would all get murdered or at the very least slightly maimed by a gigantic raging dinosaur.

He wished he had the breath to explain just how _stupid_ that choice would be. He wished he could explain that if they kept running there was a good chance the Q-Rex wouldn't give him a second thought anyway since he didn't have the gun. He would like to say that hey- their morphers always came back at the last minute anyway, why not go ahead and participate in that nerve-wracking exercise? Again. It wasn't like they didn't do it _all_ the time.

But really- Hunter had misplaced priorities and had wasted most of his breath on complaining, so, instead of wasting even _more_ energy trying to convince the other two to leave him behind, he should figure out a plan that kept them buddied-up for-_evah_.

"Options people," he huffed, bracing a hand against his ribs because seriously- pain; inadvertent stopping was going to happen sooner rather than later.

"Morphing?" Dustin offered, but they all knew that wasn't going to happen. They had taken too hard a hit earlier; it would take way longer than a few minutes for their morphers to be ready for another round of battle.

"I could try shorting it out," Blake suggested. "Circle off to the side and hit it with as big a lightning bolt as I can manage. Maybe that would put it out of commission for a little bit."

"Forget it." Hunter couldn't let that happen. If anyone was staying behind to deal with the psychotic tin-can it was going to be _him_, definitely not Blake.

Dustin agreed with this sentiment. At least, the first part. "Dude we're not leaving you alone and if that thing's anything like _our_ zords, it will be able to handle your unmorphed lightning with like, no troubles. No offense."

"None taken." By his dry tone Blake thought differently, but he moved on. "Damn, if Marah and Kapri showed up right now maybe this thing would focus on _them_ seeing as like, they're actual bad guys."

"Do you think it can sense that?" Dustin asked.

"_Psh_," Blake scoffed. "If it saw their hair, I don't think it would really matter."

"Did you just-" Hunter had to stop, you know, for breathing, but it added to his mockery. "You did not make a hair joke when we could all possibly _die_? That's not- please, we deserve better than that."

Blake streaked past his peripheral, must have doubled back to check their distance, face snarky as he flipped to the front. "Got anything better from the peanut gallery, oh wise and silver-tongued wizard?"

"Yeah," Hunter coughed, smile breaking across his face despite, you know, imminent doom. "How about their stupidity would be so compelling he would _have_ to destroy them?"

"How is that better?" Blake asked, attempting to clear a path for Hunter without being obvious about it.

Now that the blond looked at it, his brother and Dustin must be taking turns, weaving out in front of the lagging crimson ranger to make his escape as stress-free as possible.

Part of Hunter wanted to call a time-out and hug them for it. The other part added them to the 'to-be-face-kicked' list.

Instead of doing either, Hunter pushed the emotions down and focused on breathing, waving a hand at his brother. "Mine doesn't involve hair fashion, which implies you _care_ about hair fashion-"

Blake frowned. "You don't have to care about-"

"I think you do."

Because you _did_.

"_Guys_."

The two Bradley's gave Dustin their attention, putting a halt to their habitual bickering so the yellow ranger could state his case. "If Marah and Kapri are still around they would be looking for us so…like, shouldn't we just make it really easy to find us?"

"Is the dinosaur rampage not doing it for them?" Hunter asked, even though he shouldn't, because he was a glutton for punishment like that. "Because I've got to say that is just an insult to the Q-Rex-" and Hunter had to cut himself off. Really, he should rearrange his priorities but sarcasm was his life force; he _needed_ it or he would go postal damn it.

Dustin ignored him, flipping onto another branch. "What's another way to track a ninja?"

"Ninja energy, I guess," Blake replied, Dustin's plan finally dawning on him.

"Less talky," Hunter forced out, no longer able to be subtle about the rib clutching. "More do-y."

He didn't know what they must have looked like and honestly, he didn't care. But if Hunter ever _did,_ it must have been a sight: three teenagers hurling themselves through the trees while a mammoth of a dinosaur zord chased them down, one of them firing off sporadic lighting bolts into the heavens while another made the earth itself crumble beneath the Q-Rex's feet, as much as they could without affecting the trees around them.

Hunter could only imagine that Marah and Kapri's entrance added to the calamity, along with the following onslaught of Kelzaks and Choobo and gorilla/airplanes.

The good news was that their plan was a stunning success; the Q-Rex was _definitely_ more interested in the newest swarm of locusts than it was with the possibly/definitely/innocent-until-guilty Quantum Defender thieves.

The bad news was that the entirety of hell burst out of the ground and consumed _everything_ because, holy crap, Hunter did not know what was going on.

Ninja training kicked in way before he comprehended the presence of his and Blake's idols; Time Force Red and the Quantum Ranger riding in on the TF Eagle, weapons a'blazing and throwing themselves into the fight with absolutely no hesitation.

The first thing that crossed Hunter's mind was that it figured Eric Meyers would be aware of his zord running amuck. That was rangering 101. His second thought was that they should probably stay to help clean up the mess, seeing as it was _their_ bad guys that were causing the trouble anyway. The third thing was a mild victory at Kapri getting kicked in the face (number two checked off the list; yes, Cam had been first, shut up), and the fourth thing was the stunning realization that Dustin and Blake had usurped his authority when he wasn't looking and had decided that a legitimate, undetected, tactile retreat and regroup was their only priority at the moment.

The fifth thing Hunter realized was that he honestly had no complaints about this decision; he felt like he was about to pass out anyway, and it wasn't like Marah and Kapri would be all that hard to beat.

And with the Q-Rex on their side…

Yeah, he had no worries for Wes Collins and Eric Meyers.

Absolutely none.

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"Someone's trying to hack into Ninja Ops' network," was the greeting Shane got upon his arrival into the Ops' main room, Cam's fingers moving rapidly over his keyboard as he stared down the main console, daring it to allow this most grievous offense to continue.

"Okay wait," Shane started, holding up a placating hand that was completely lost on the green ranger. "Run that by me again."

"It's simple," Cam murmured, tense shoulders giving away his aggravation. "There's an attempted breach. I'm trying to stop the breach. This has been going on for quite a while now."

Under normal circumstances Shane wouldn't have been worried because in all honestly, he had the most gifted tech guy around, no question, but by Cam's clipped tone and the fact he had actually called the team to Ninja Ops…

It was safe to say Shane had some concerns.

Tori entered just in time for Cam's explanation and moved to stand beside Shane, looking over Cam's shoulder worriedly. "Can that even happen? I thought Lothor couldn't-"

"He _can't_," the green ranger snapped, then stilled, taking in a slow breath before throwing Tori an apologetic look. "The entire…the Ninja Ops network is comprised of all my computers, the morphers, the mobile command center, the zords, and my entire system of cameras, sensors, and holo-projectors that are spread throughout Blue Bay Harbor. The receivers for everything are _here_. It's a local network, if someone was trying to backtrack from a camera or sensor Cyber Cam would just cut them off; the only way they could actually attempt a breach is if they were actually _in_ Ninja Ops. At least, hypothetically."

Shane turned and gave the room a thorough once over, fighting stance ready. He did not like the sound of that. "So should we-"

"That's just the problem," Cam continued like he hadn't heard him. "The hacker is definitely outside of Ninja Ops."

"Dude, by the looks of it he could be out of the city," Cyber Cam added, ever the helpful one.

Cam sighed. "I don't know where it's coming from. The only definite trail Cyber Cam and I have managed to pick up is from the zords and our morphers and I don't know how anyone could have access to…" Cam trailed off then shook his head, returning his focus to the screen in front of him. "The Morphing Grid. Or something that can track it or channel it or-"

"Like another ranger team?" Tori asked, hands folded in front of her mouth as she narrowed her eyes thoughtfully.

"It's a possibility," Cam replied. "But I would rather be certain before allowing them access."

"Right," Shane nodded. "Do whatever's necessary." He turned his attention to Tori. "Call the others, we should probably-"

"They're out of town."

It took Shane a couple of seconds to register what Cam had said, having assumed the tech had blocked them out to continue working.

Shane was taken off guard by his interruption. Thankfully, Tori was not.

"Excuse me?" she asked in a tone that was less questioning and more _'why-the-hell-didn't-you-mention-that-sooner'_.

Because he was otherwise occupied, Cam did not pick up on this tone, which was probably a blessing for all of them. "They went to return the weapon Dustin borrowed from the 'Doom-pot' fiasco. After being struck with an impulse for rash behavior, Hunter had them activate the un-tested morpher blockers, which would make that-" and without looking over his shoulder he pointed to Tori, who already had her morpher half-raised to her mouth. "Pointless."

Which was bad and Shane could tell Cam was highly displeased with this action, but he couldn't help but wonder…

"Do you think that has anything to do with the attempted breach?"

Cam actually stopped his time, fingers hovering over the keyboard as he turned and gave Shane his undivided attention, Cyber Cam keeping the work up in the background.

The green ranger thought about this. "They were off-line for about two hours before the first attempt began."

"What?" Tori started up, arms folding across her chest. "Do you think someone's out there…monitoring us? Saw the morphers go off line and came looking to see if we were okay?"

"Or dead," Cam murmured and damn, Shane did not like either option.

"The status quo changed," he said, standing resolute as they sent him questioning looks. "We always have six, three go missing and suddenly someone's trying to make contact with us." He stared at the other two seriously, hating how this was expanding past their small world in Ninja Ops, where it was safe. But he had a job to do, so he had to keep going. "Either they're worried for our safety, or they're worried that they can't keep tabs on us anymore."

Cam shrugged his shoulders, too casual an action for him; it was forced for their benefit. "Cyber Cam and I will continue trying to backtrack the attempts."

"Good," Shane said, nodding. "In the meantime we use our blockers too." He locked eyes with Tori, who nodded knowingly. "Really give them something to worry about."

"What about the others?" Tori was fidgeting with the end of her pony tail; she didn't like that Blake was so far out of her reach and felt unsettled by it, something that Shane could only sympathize with.

His stupid boyfriend was probably the cause of all this mess anyway.

Shane pulled out his phone and punched in speed dial two, Dustin's picture flashing across the screen as he waited for the line to pick up.

If things were fine, Dustin would answer.

If things had gone down the toilet (as Shane so feared they had), his loving boyfriend Hunter would be more than willing to dish out some unrelenting fury.

If Blake answered…

Shane honestly didn't want to think about that. He didn't.

That meant the other two were down.

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All Hunter had to say was thank God for abandoned warehouses being a dime a dozen. Sure, it didn't do anything to boost the city's economy or provide more jobs for the unemployed or whatever, but _damn_ did they make good hiding spots. Solid roof over your head, most of them were structurally sound and add in an employee lounge with a couple of couches and broken down vending machines and you had yourself the perfect little getaway for whenever your back got pushed against the wall.

This particular employee lounge had enough couch cushions to go around, there were even some leftover coats and coveralls to act as blankets to their little nest in the far corner; the doors and that one window easily in sight. They made do with it; the other two scrounging what supplies they could while Hunter tried to recoup against the wall, Dustin's cell phone in hand for the inevitable call he had to make.

It was out of sheer stubbornness he had yet to contact Shane. With a cell phone. Because the first question out of Shane's mouth would be something along the lines of _"Why_ _didn't you use your morpher?"_ which would eventually devolve into _"Don't use untested crap Hunter, you're giving me a heart attack and I don't __**deserve**__ a heart attack __**Hunter**__"_ and then he'd probably hand the phone off to Tori who would make Hunter wish he had just manned up and dealt with Cyber Cam's caterwauling instead of going the route of instant gratification because Tori gave exactly _no damns_ about him or his feelings whenever he initiated a particularly stupid stunt that upset Shane. The red ranger himself wouldn't be too pissed because he at the very least got some physical compensation (*wink* *wink*) to put up with Hunter's…Hunterness.

Tori did not. Tori did not and Tori would start unleashing hells the likes of which only he and Cam ever got to experience because apparently they were the two most emotionally incompetent people _ever_.

So Hunter had a phone call to make, he just…Not yet.

He could buy himself a few more minutes right?

The phone rang in his hands.

_Balls_.

Well, the best defense was a ridiculous offense _so_-

Hunter snapped the phone open and jammed it against his ear, taking a deep breath in an attempt to conceal, or at least, minimize the effects of his rib injury. "Tell Cam his stupid signal blocker _works_. It just doesn't, you know, _turn off_."

Cam's voice came through the other end of the line at a distance - they must be on speaker - but there was no hiding the annoyance in his tone, "I told you it was still in testing phases-"

"Your testing sucks!" Hunter yelled and immediately regretted it, only he didn't, because it was Cam and throwing disdain at Cam was his life's foremost prerogative, though there was probably something to the fact he would do this crap at his own expense, something Tori and Shane would make frowny faces at him for, but whatever.

"…and not to be used on frivolous things like drowning out Cyber Cam," Cam said right over him, because he was a dick like that, in that eerily calm/pissed tone he had especially reserved for Hunter. Not that this was all actually Hunter-inspired hate. There was also some making-me-worry-over-Dustin hate going down there.

Hunter inhaled slowly, probably sounding like he was making an attempt to cool-down or recharge or whatever when his ribs were really _not_ having it. "Well _maybe_ if your tech-crap actually _worked-_"

Cam scoffed, "I love how blatant misuse of equipment is my fault-"

Shane should have really just given the phone to Cam.

Hunter grit his teeth, feeling his left eye give a resolved twitch. "It should be able to TURN OFF-"

Cam's typing became audible and Hunter knew he hit a sore spot. Score. Cam was pissed.

"What part of 'prototype' does your quasi-developed brain _not_ comprehend-"

"The part that understands the basic function of most items is 1) turn on, quickly followed by 2-"

"_Enough,_" Shane ordered, tone sharp and making an impressive entrance with leader-voice fully engaged. He let them throw their barbs out, now it was time to get back on track.

"We'll talk about this later," the voice continued and Hunter almost wanted to cry a little bit.

Hunter wished that stupid leader voice was on _this_ side of the phone. Really, if he had known this simple trip was going to go to hell he would have made Shane switch places with him. Shane would have handled this the correct way.

Sometimes Hunter wondered how he had kept Blake and himself alive all those years. He honestly wasn't seeing it now.

Hunter glared at Dustin's phone (for Cam, again, not Shane. Shane was cool), switching it to speaker mode as Blake and Dustin reentered the lounge, offerings of fast food laden in their hands. Hunter motioned for them to come over and set the phone down on his lap, leaning against the wall with a sigh, one hand braced against his ribs while the other massaged the side of his head.

On the other end of the line he could hear Shane sigh and compose himself, tone calm when he continued. "Hunter, I need a status report."

Hunter would like, would desperately like, to be honest and frank and _not_-jerkface Hunter, but he had two rangers looking to him for leadership and concern and if he broke, if he…He wasn't afraid to show weakness. It wasn't that. They just needed all the freakin' pep they could get their hands on, which did not include depressed mutterings and admitting that bad shit had indeed gone down, so instead of laying it all out on the table Hunter kept his tone peeved and sarcastic, clutching onto that to keep the gasping out of his tone, to keep Dustin and Blake seeing the jovial side of things and, most of all, to keep Shane from getting more upset and worried than he already was.

It was times like these that made those years of honing his wit as a defense mechanism all the more useful.

"Status shitty captain," he muttered. "We've got Marah, Kapri, a boatload of Kelzaks, an airplane/gorilla and a rather upset and not-so-surprisingly territorial Q-Rex hot on our asses." He paused to catch his breath, flicking the side of Dustin's head when the yellow ranger opened his mouth to make some concerned comment. "And also Choobo, but no one cares about Choobo."

Cam, ever one for efficiency, sorted through all the excess stuff and cut to the heart of the matter. "How the hell did you manage-"

"Not speaking to you," Hunter muttered, Dustin giving him a hurt look on Cam's behalf and Hunter waved him off. "Nope, no, this is not happening. Point is, we're having a little trouble on the gun-return front."

"Has there been anything suspicious?" Shane asked and…that concern? Yeah, that didn't need to be increased at _all_.

Hunter outsourced his incredulous snort to Blake, leaning his shoulder against his younger brother's as they shared a knowing look.

He kept his tone sarcastic. "Did you listen to my list?" he said. "It was a great list; I had to think of _just_ the right order to present it to you because hot damn, that list deserved some-"

"_Anything_ _else_?" Shane asked, no suspicion which was weird, but then there was _Hunter_ suspicion because-

"…no, not really," Hunter said, eyebrows knitting in concern. "Why?"

And _no_, he didn't imagine Shane's drawn out pause on the other end of the line because Blake and Dustin leaned closer to the phone too, as though their proximity would make a damn difference. When Shane started talking again it was like he was trying to find the right words to say, and dread washed over Hunter. He would hate it, _loathed_ the idea of Shane and the others falling under attack while he was stuck in stupid Silver Hills with a couple of bruised (cracked) ribs.

"We've had some…"

Tori stepped in, cutting straight to the point. "Someone's trying to hack into Ninja Ops' system."

"Unsuccessfully," Cam said tersely. By the sound of his voice he was probably facing his computer and Hunter wasn't sure if that was just normal oh-Hunter's-talking nonchalance or if he should actually be worried that Cam couldn't stop to belittle him properly. "I'm trying to backtrack it."

When Cyber Cam added, "Also unsuccessfully," Hunter let his worrying go into super-hyper speed.

He didn't _like_ Cam, but even Hunter could admit he was a genius. If he was having trouble…

Dustin stared at the phone in amazement. "Dude, no way."

Cyber Cam gave the equivalent of a vocal-shrug, "It's like a stalemate; no one's losing anything but no one's gaining any ground either."

Blake rubbed a hand across the front of his face and Hunter resisted the urge to copy the motion. "Whoever it is must be super smart."

No one said _"No shit_" but someone probably should have. If not just to keep some semblance of normality.

The fact that no one did, the fact that _Hunter_ didn't, indicated a level of deep-shittiness that none of them wanted to talk about.

"But he doesn't have me!" Cyber Cam chirped, definitely louder and more enthusiastically than necessary, but it did the trick, breaking the team out of their hum-drum woes and refocusing them on the problem at hand.

Cam picked up the conversation smoothly, as though he never dropped it. "What Cyber Cam means is we should be able to trace the hack back to the source in a couple hours, at the most."

Which was great and all, but what do they do when they get there? Who could be looking for them? _Was_ someone looking for them? What-

"What does this mean?" Dustin asked, hesitant.

Hunter could feel the minute tremors running through the brunette's body, resisting the temptation to lean into the injured ranger or reach out for some kind of physical reassurance. Ribs be damned, Hunter threw his arm over the brown-haired teen's shoulder anyway, allowing the yellow ranger to rest his head against Hunter's shoulder while the conversation rolled on.

Shane sighed. "We don't know just- Take it easy, okay you guys? Keep your eyes open."

Hunter allowed the other two to give their sign offs first, a practice reserved for situations like this, when they were separated and needed to hear the sound of each of their voices, confirming they're okay.

"Will do," Blake murmured, nodding his head, and Dustin added, "Got it," giving his phone a look as though it were Cam and the others, trying to give moral support and belief over a freakin' _phoneline_.

"Read you loud and clear," Hunter began slowly, his voice finally sounding as tired and worn out as he felt. "Hunter out."

He hung up the phone, flipping it closed before carefully handing it back to Dustin, their bags of fast food and grease cool and unappealing.

Blake reached for them anyway, because they couldn't run on nothing and none of them were fond of waste.

"Do you think something really bad's about to happen?" he asked, distributing the burgers with care, Hunter's the most loaded, Dustin's the thinnest, as he was most picky.

Hunter sighed and unwrapped his burger, taking an unenthusiastic bite that tasted like sawdust, flinching as he felt a pang shoot up his side.

"I hope not," he muttered.

He would say that life couldn't possibly throw more crap their way, but that was a painful lesson he learned a _long_ time ago.

He was pretty sure fate was willing to kick him in the face anyway, no tempting necessary; he wasn't about to increase his chances.

His ribs couldn't take much more of it.

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Endnotes:

Did I mention Shane's dating Hunter? Shane's dating Hunter. I tried to get through a story without them being in a relationship but it just didn't keep. I CAN'T DO IT GUYS. Sorry *apologetic facial expression*

They are just too fun to play with.

On another note, while writing this chapter I misspelled "ridiculous" so bad Microsoft Word could not find an appropriate match. That's a special kind of skill there. I'm feeling really accomplished right now.

Thanks to Heaven's Archer and weathergirl17248 for reviewing last chapter! Mucho appreciation. _Muchooooooo_…

Okay, I have to study now, and maybe take a nap. Hope these endnotes make some kind of sense.

Until next time :)


	5. I Call Shenanigans

Chapter 5

I Call Shenanigans

Notes: So...everybody's gay. Yes, it has been decided.

A rocket ship-full of the finest love and thanks to the real vampire and Rogue Ranger for dealing with this chapter's mischief. And calling attention to certain details certain Paisley's happen to doof up. Your efforts are always appreciated : )

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"What the hell just happened?" Wes asked aloud (which he had debated on, because none of them knew what had happened but still, it needed to be said, just on the off-hand chance someone had brainstormed something in the past few seconds).

What he got in response was a harried yet distinctly frustrated look from Eric that told him to go do some not-so-nice things in a _very_ not-so-nice place while he attempted to calm the Q-Rex down. The zord was just as agitated as its ranger, impatiently shifting its weight from left foot/claw-thing to right foot/claw-thing, antsy for a fight and getting mad because they wouldn't let it go looking for one.

That was all Wes was going to get from those two (and even that had been more generous than he had expected it to be), so the blond turned his attention to Justin, the younger man having arrived on the scene with reinforcements just a few minutes after Wes and Eric. The Turbo ranger was frowning down at an ipad-like thingy, tapping it impatiently and wholly fixated on…whatever he was doing, so yeah- he wasn't going to give Wes the time of day anytime soon.

"Anyone?" Wes asked again, turning his attention towards the other three rangers who had fought with them. He focused mainly on Carter, because he knew him. And _maybe_ (totally, completely, shut up it was reasonable) because the other two were part of Earth's first team of rangers and might just…intimidate him. A bit.

Especially after he had seen them fight. Good lord he did _not_ ever want to cross those two.

"From what I understand, the Q-Rex detected trouble and went to take care of it," Carter reported, calm and commanding despite the undeniably hectic circumstances. His eyes focused over to where Eric was calming the zord, arms spread wide and palms rubbing against the side of that giant foot/claw-thing. "Has this sort of thing happened before?"

"No," Wes replied, frowning as the robot anxiously stamped his other foot, making a low crooning sound that could quite possibly be the zord whining at Eric because it _had_ to go looking for a fight, that it _needed_ it, and Wes wasn't sure if he should be disturbed or find the entire display adorable.

Wes shook his head. _Focus Collins_. "After it let Eric take control it only came out if he called it. This is the first time it has initiated combat on its own."

"Do you think they attacked it?"

Wes tensed but didn't (thankfully) jump at the new voice, having been so focused on _not_ being disturbed by the other two rangers he almost forgot they were there. He turned to face the Asian man in black. He had taken to studying the Q-Rex intensely, though somehow without effort. Thorough without the exertion. Yeah…only _kind've_ creepy.

"Maybe that's what drew it out," the unknown ranger's teammate said (there hadn't really been time for names, just _"Black look behind you!"_ and _"Duck you moron!"_ (the last one being Eric)), dressed in red as he draped himself across the first man's shoulders, thoughtful look on his face. Of the two, Wes would say he was the least intimidating but then again, that could be just because of the whole red-thing. This red ranger hadn't been on the mission to take out Serpentera but his suit looked almost exactly like Jason's. Wes would have to get a better view of him morphed and _not_ fighting for his life before he could be really sure of it though.

"But why?" the Time Force ranger wondered, pulling off his stupid Silver Guardians beret and running a hand through his sweaty hair, feeling just as irritated as the Q-Rex. "Why was the Q-Rex a target? Does it have something to do with the Quantum defender and why-"

"They're from Lothor."

By the look on the Asian man's face, he was just as surprised by his comment as the other three were, blinking and giving Wes a subtle nod in apology before his teammate continued, eagerly picking up on that train of thought and looking at the Asian man excitedly.

"That's right, Lothor's the newest baddie right?"

"Bad guy," the black ranger corrected, habitually though without force, like he knew it was a losing battle.

"Yeah, yeah," the Hispanic man nodded, eyes looking off in the distance. "Well, if those were his goons, then where's the Ninja Storm team?" He looked back and forth between Wes and Carter. "That's what the media's calling them right? Because of the water and the ninja swords." His eyes went back to the distance but this time there was a dreamy tinge to them. He sagged against the first man a little more, sighing. "Man, I wish we had swords."

"You had the Blade Blaster and the Power Sword," the Asian man said, furrowing his eyebrows.

The red ranger scoffed, "I meant _ninja_ swords."

"You're on the _Ninjetti_ team-"

The red-clad man narrowed his eyes and stared at the side of the Asian man's face, overdramatized perplexity written across his features. "You are ruining my envy."

Only the barest upward pull of the black ranger's lips gave away his amusement, studying his teammate out of the corner of his eyes with an almost-poker face. "It is fundamentally misplaced."

The moment of quiet fondness passing between the two rangers felt entirely too personal for Wes to be watching. He wanted to turn away and give them some privacy, feeling like a clumsy intruder, but the Hispanic man broke off the staring contest as quickly as it started, giving the other two red rangers a jovial grin as normality (or you know, Power Ranger-normality) settled back over them.

"Rocky DeSantos," he introduced himself cheerfully, rubbing his cheek against the side of the other man's face. "Red Ninjetti Ranger, at your service."

"Adam Park," the black ranger said next, giving a small, tentative wave while Rocky continued to make a nuisance of himself, collapsing the majority of his weight across Adam's body. "Black Ninjetti Ranger."

"Dibbs," Rocky said almost immediately afterward, hugging Adam's neck tighter. The black ranger's tiny, amused smile got slightly less tiny and more amused, sneaking a hand up to grab onto Rocky's, the other man keeping his eyes locked on the other two rangers. "Let the record show _I_ have dibbs."

Wes and Carter shared a confused look. At least, Wes was confused. Carter just looked patient.

"Uh…" Wes began, looking back at Rocky. "Darn?"

Rocky nodded sagely. "Your disappointment is most appropriate." The look of wisdom and pity turned into a devilish smirk and Rocky's eyes looked over to where Eric was standing. "Though we all know you have dibbs on something else."

"_Rocky_," Adam admonished just as Wes decided that going into a fit of choking at that exact moment would be _awesome_. He bent over and rested his hands on his knees, trying to cover up how badly he was blushing.

Holy _crap_ that was not fair. How had he noticed that? _Eric_ hadn't even noticed that and they'd been fighting together for years. Rocky had only been there for what, ten minutes?

The Red Ninjetti Ranger smiled cheekily once he noticed Wes' expression of wonder. "I know things," he declared proudly.

"Is it anything _useful_?"

And speak of the devil, there was Eric himself, Q-Rex as pacified as it would ever be, stalking forward and gifting Wes with a short look of concern before he switched back into being unimpressed by Rocky. The Quantum ranger folded his arms across his chest, moving to stand so that part of his shoulder was in front of the blond Silver Guardian, though whether it was because he was feeling legitimately protective or because he wanted to establish dominance between the two of them, Wes wasn't exactly sure. The fourteen year old girl inside of him was making a substantial case for the former option, but Wes liked to be realistic.

When it became obvious Rocky wasn't going to rise to Eric's bait, the Quantum ranger huffed and turned his attention towards Carter who was, to all appearances, the _only_ ranger he liked there. "Is there any reason we're standing around doing nothing?"

Rocky answered before Carter could, doing a little goading of his own while nodding in Justin's direction. "Tech wizard's doing tech wizardy things."

"Just give him some time," Adam said quietly, giving Rocky's hand a squeeze, maybe as a way of telling him to…back off? Take it easy? Play nice? Now _that_ one seemed the most likely. Wes had a well-practiced "be-nice" arm clasp he used on Eric just about every day. _Every_ day.

The black ranger continued, "He's probably about to-"

"_God_ _damnit!_"

As if on cue, Justin threw down his ipad-thing, stomping away from it a few paces before tugging at his hair angrily. He snapped around to face the other rangers, eyes intense and narrowed. "They were _here_. They were here and if we had been just a _few_ seconds faster I could have come up with a better algorithm-"

Rocky's disposition turned from playful to serious in an instant, pulling away from Adam so he could focus on the livid Turbo ranger. "Did Lothor's guys take them?"

Justin shook his head. "I don't know. I don't _know_ _anything_! I can't-"

Adam, the brave one, moved towards the younger ranger, ignoring Wes' look of warning before placing a comforting hand on his shoulder. "You need to calm down and regroup. You'll figure it out if you step back a minute-"

"How can I?!" Justin shouted, shrugging the black ranger's hand off. "They're in _trouble_ Adam. If the signal blockers are actually with those goons then the whole-"

"Only three of them are gone," Adam softly interrupted, not standing down. "That means three of their teammates are still out there and they probably have a better handle on the situation anyway. You need to _stand down_ Justin. Take a break and think of a new approach." Adam turned his eyes to the gradually setting sun, the orange and pink hues a quiet indicator that night was soon approaching. "There's nothing else we can do tonight. Not out here."

There were a few tense seconds where it looked like Justin was seriously thinking of arguing, but the teen ultimately deflated, bending down to scoop up his abandoned ipad with a sigh.

Wes tried to hide his own exhale of relief (he had seen what frustrated geniuses were capable of and he didn't want to go there), pulling his beret back on to give his hands something to do. "So for uh…housing," he began, appropriately getting all of their attention. "I have plenty of room I mean, for everyone. Since you're doing us a favor."

"Once a ranger, always a ranger," Adam answered, still focused on Justin. He reached his arm out and this time touch was accepted, Justin leaning slightly into the contact before pulling away and walking towards Storm Blaster. Who was a sentient jeep, by the way. A sentient, battle jeep that took as much joy out of riling up Eric as its ranger did.

Wes should…probably be more concerned about that. The whole _"Let's poke at Eric"_ thing. He should think of a way to dissuade that. Something more subtle than issuing out face-punching threats to all the other rangers.

Though there was something kind of exciting about the prospect of threatening people to play nice with his Eri- His _teammate_.

Right. Top. Tippity-top. The toppest of-

Outside of the rant going on inside of Wes' head, Rocky stepped forward, smile reacquainting itself with his face. "What he means is we rangers stick together; it's no trouble."

And what was he…?

Oh, right. The whole "always a ranger" thing.

Wes shrugged sheepishly, trying to hide his rather blatant space-out. "Yeah uh…well, anyway, we can go back there and make a new plan of attack," he explained, rubbing his hands together. "I have plenty of room."

He didn't want to make them get hotels or anything, and there was _no way_ they were staying at Eric's (Wes was almost certain he would murder them all, except for Carter. And probably Adam. Eric didn't seem too aggravated by Adam, not that he even knew his _name_).

They all looked at him, expressions ranging from blank to confused.

What was the-?

Eric rolled his eyes. "He lives in a mansion," the Quantum Ranger explained and _that_ immediately got a woop from Rocky.

The Red Ninjetti Ranger pumped his fist in the air, jogging his way over towards Justin and Storm Blaster to share the good news. "_Woo-hoo_, mansion party!"

The other rangers followed more sedately, Adam and Carter riding with Storm Blaster while Wes and Eric prepped to morph again, planning to ride the TF Eagle back to Silver Hills.

Carter raised his eyebrows, sending Adam a question look. "'Woo-hoo'?"

Adam shrugged, unapologetic, the barest fond smile on his face.

"We're working on it," he explained.

They all tried and failed to hide their smiles when both Eric and Justin lectured Rocky on how now was _not_ the time for parties, the two of them sharing a sour look before turning it on the rest of them which was, frankly, all the push Wes needed before he burst into laughter, Rocky joining him enthusiastically while Carter and Adam were more reserved, though partaking in the entertainment at least.

Eric wouldn't talk to him the whole flight back to Silver Hills. He kept himself occupied by grumbling how he was _nothing_ like "that kid", and how they were all children and how he should lock them all inside a room and fix whatever this situation was with Carter, because at least Carter could _"Act like a god damn adult."_

Despite the fact he was _oh_-so obviously not talking to Wes, the blond ranger helpfully informed Eric of Rocky and Adam's names. To which the Quantum Ranger had replied,_ "If I cared about their stupid names I would have asked about their stupid names."_

Wes was pleased to say that, when the grumbling started up a few minutes later, Adam made it onto the not-locked-in-a-room list.

He viewed this as progress.

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First word they got in the morning was that Cam hadn't been able to finish back-tracking the source of the hacker's attempts, which was something that none of them were happy about but whatever, they would deal. Hunter was glad to hear that at least the attempted breaches had stopped late last night, but the bad news was (for Cam's work ethic and ocd-ness and need to be right and Dustin's putting-up-with-Cam-ability) that Cam was still blocked out of…okay, to be honest most of the conversation had flown right over Hunter's head, but the end result was that they still knew dick about whoever was trying to track them down.

On the bright side, his ribs felt a lot better after an evening of rest, so that had to count for something.

Their marching orders right now were the same as before. Track down Eric's house, return the Quantum Defender, get home and try not to break too many more laws. The last bit was added in by Tori but everyone had decided it was a pretty solid idea, even if Dustin had his wounded-puppy, bottom lip jutting out thing plastered on his face when they voted.

By virtue of appearing the least intimidating and _not_ being Dustin, Blake got saddled with sneaking the gun back in. He relieved Dustin of his backpack and glared at Hunter on principal (though there wasn't one because he _was_ the least intimidating; it wasn't Hunter's fault he had tall and brooding mastered while Blake got stuck with adorable and charming; blame genetics) before making his way across the street, using a few quick ninja bounds before he disappeared around the backside of Eric's house.

Dustin and Hunter were on monitor duty, keeping an eye on the situation from the roof of a neighbor's house, Eric's abode firmly in their field of vision.

"_Get in, get out, no problems_," Hunter chanted, keeping an eye out for murderous dino zords and taking a tally of all nearby trees that could possibly be weaponized.

Maybe if he thought the worst was going to happen with every fiber of his being things would turn out to be fine.

…yeah, and right after that Lothor would give up world-conquering to pursue a career of professional badminton.

He didn't share this thought with Dustin. They didn't need anymore Lothor-themed crayon drawings gracing the front of the refrigerator.

Hunter had enough problems, thanks.

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Blake couldn't remember the exact words Dustin had used to describe Eric's house. It was probably something along the lines of "medium-messy" because Dustin was a big fan of medium _everything_, but if that was the case the house Dustin had seen and the house Blake had_ entered_ might as well have been in alternate dimensions. Blake did away with the idea that Eric hadn't noticed the gun was missing. One did not tear apart their house (there were floorboards missing, _floorboards_, and a toppled over couch and a few ripped up pillows and-) for kicks and giggles.

He had scanned the house before coming in; no heat signatures, no morpher signatures, no nothing, so he decided to take the slightly-less questionable route and picked the back door's lock, therefore making it slightly _less_ criminal than Dustin's entrance. At least he could fake it and say he had a spare key, or something. All Dustin could say was that he was a jungle boy who used windows as his main form of building entrance or that he was just a rabid fan (that one was more likely) who would stop at _nothing_ to get to his idol (whose weapon he didn't even know had a _name-_).

Whatever, Blake needed to move on. Hunter would be pissed if he wasted time moping when he was supposed to be planting the Quantum defender (they couldn't track down Eric to explain things, and Shane had urged that they didn't really have the time, not if Marah and Kapri were going to follow them to Silver Hills).

He moved around the house quietly, trying to find _just_ the right…

Blake tensed and held still, listening and there…a cracking noise, sort of like a…was it from a window?

The thunder ranger slunk into the shadows, moving into a place where he was calm in both body and mind to prepare for some major stealth-ing. Someone else was trying to get into this house.

Someone who had to crawl in through a window.

He held back and waited, keeping all senses alert.

Eric Meyers had another intruder. Blake doubted they came bearing gifts.

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So Leo had this thing where he found making Eric Meyers angry just the epitome of anything that could be considered fun times.

It wasn't his fault, not really. Kai complained that the impulse to poke at things that wore glaringly obvious "DO NOT POKE AT" signs was imbedded in Leo's genetic make up. Which…yeah, that had some merit; see his relationship with Kai for reference. And _maybe_ it was because Leo was a natural rebel and _maybe_ it was because it was fun to throw things at Eric's gruff and prickly disposition and watch them explode and _maybe_ it was because, when he had described each of the other red ranger's to Kai, the blue ranger had decided Eric was his favorite- but whatever, the point was, Eric didn't like Leo. And in his defense he had honestly (and he could just envision Kai raising a dubious eyebrow at him but it was FOR REAL this time) not done much to deserve this. Aside from being cheerful and enthusiastic and, well, Leo. But, as it turned out, Eric didn't _like_ happiness and sunshine or his brain didn't know how to handle it or whatever so he didn't like Leo and Leo, and this was totally reasonable, didn't like being disliked for such a stupid reason.

It would be at this point that Kai would make some remark about needing recognition from his peers because of some issues in his early child development but Kai was one of the biggest hypocrites _ever_ and he wasn't here so Leo was going to go ahead and say this was completely justified. He had even asked Andros. Though he wasn't sure if what _he_ was talking about and what the Red Space Ranger had been talking about were the same thing. But there was approval damnit.

A small voice in the back of his head lectured him on taking advantage of miscommunications for personal gain. It sounded suspiciously like Kai. Well- _LA LA LA, NOT LISTENING-_

Okay, that was good. Back to the task at hand.

The rest of his team had headed over to Bio Labs to meet up with the other rangers. Leo had begged off joining them to "Take care of some business", but by the looks on Kai and Kendrix's faces they really weren't buying it. Which really- just unfair. And hurtful. Leo _was_ taking care of some business; it just didn't technically have any relevance to the mission at hand. It wasn't _his_ fault they didn't ask to clarify, or tell him to get with the program (and he would have come running in a heartbeat if Kai had just whistled, he was sort of pathetically enamored to that guy; would gladly take to groveling if that guaranteed him some Kai-lovin'). But their silence had given him consent. Done deal.

So that was how he, Leo Corbett, just the coolest of the Mirinoi/Lost Galaxy Team, came to be breaking into Eric Meyer's house, fully intent on pulling a prank. He and Damon had been testing out various pranking strategies on the other rangers (and by that he meant they had been testing them on Kendrix and Mike because one did not mess with Kai and pranking Maya would instigate an all-out-rebellion from the rest of their team). Ultimately (after Mike had threatened to strangle him with his own belt), Leo had decided that the best prank would be an original tried and true one, the old dump-bucket-of-unpleasant-mixture-on-unsuspecting-victim gag. Leo even had a tiny spy camera he had conned out of Kendrix (payment for a halting of all prank assaults) so that the magic could be captured for the enjoyment of all.

He would totally send a copy to Taylor. Cole had mentioned something about her and Eric bumping heads whenever the Time Force and Wild Force teams had fought together.

Leo had climbed in through a…living room window? This _might_ have involved partially breaking it and Leo would have felt worse about that if he wasn't so engrossed in wondering who the hell had gotten to Eric's place first because, man, the house was a war zone. He was almost certain there was nothing worse he could do than whoever had done whatever had happened…

Oh wait. Eric had lost his weapon ("stolen", right. _Sure Eric, we all believe you_) so this was probably just the fallout from the Quantum Ranger looking for it.

Leo brightened back up. In that case, pranking was still a go. He would have called it off out of pity but _this_ ranger had no sympathies for messes brought upon ones self.

The red ranger had the distinct feeling Kai would have found that particular thought hilarious. Though Leo had no idea why. Surely it had nothing to do with _him_.

Leo rechanted his inner _la-la-la-not-listening_ song and picked his way across the living room, trying to avoid stepping on any breakable, overturned things as he hoisted his prank bag higher on his shoulder. Stairs, stairs, where were the- ah, by the kitchen. On the off-hand chance Eric actually had company, Leo had decided to put his prank somewhere that would reduce the odds of any innocent bystanders getting caught in the cross fire. Or at least, minimize it to just the Quantum Ranger or Wes getting gooped (if those two ever got their act together, though they probably wouldn't because Eric was _stupid_ like that). So, Eric's bedroom.

He found the room easily enough; it was the one that had been hit the worst, thoroughly cleaning-frenzied and the door (and this was too perfect) was even slightly ajar, presenting Leo with optimum bucket-oh-goo placement without the chance of raising Eric's suspicions. That slightly-open door was nothing to be wary about because he had _left_ it slightly open. No mystery there. Nothing needed to be looked into _there_.

Leo couldn't have set it up any better if he had tried.

He placed his bag onto the floor (after he cleared off a spot) and got started, judging the best place to set his bucket as he pulled it out of the bag and began filling it. What to dump on top of a person was a very tricky thing. You didn't want to pour on anything that was too easy to wash off. You wanted something that would stay with them, maybe something that was sticky, but not _so_ sticky that it wouldn't pour out of the bucket. It needed to be quick, before Eric could react, so it couldn't be _too_ viscous.

In the end, he had decided on a syrup/soda/skim-milk sort of mixture that was sure to ruin Eric's clothes just as surely as it would ruin his disposition. Then Leo would actually deserve the other ranger's distaste.

It couldn't be a more satisfying outcome.

_Oooh_ how he would break this video out for special occasions, definitely all the birthday's, that would be great, and all the Mirinoi holidays. He couldn't think of a more festive way of celebrating than a fully grown man who would probably be cursing every being in existence. Brought a tear to Leo's eye really. It was so magical. So sentimental.

Kai would think it was stupid, but he would secretly enjoy it because it made Leo so happy, and then he'd do that tiny-smile thing that was totally his way of expressing absolute joy and Leo would go to mush inside, _mush_. He wasn't even ashamed to admit it; he was a happy mush-Leo.

The red ranger studied the door carefully, taking a mental picture of just how open it was before he sidestepped through, moving to position the tiny spy camera in optimum prank-capturing capacity. He almost started whistling to himself as he set the bucket in its dumping position, but nixed the impulse for reasons of stealth. He could celebrate later; right now he had to keep his eye on the prize.

Leo was all packed up and back down the stairs in no time, stopping for a moment to decide the benefits of using the front door as opposed to the back when that slow feeling of unease settled into his stomach, the sensation of being spied upon having been trained into him long ago, and Leo knew he was not alone.

Interesting.

He kept his posture relaxed, rubbing his chin for extra emphasis of how weighty his decision was all while trying to figure out where his silent lurker was. If it had been Eric, the Quantum Ranger would have tried punching him by now. If it had been Wes, he would have been making disapproving speeches all over the place. It _could_ quite possibly be Kai trying to get the drop on him, but his boyfriend would be more concerned with the missing rangers and stolen weapons than he would be with joining Leo in his game.

For some reason or other, probably because Kai's paranoia had rubbed off on him, Leo couldn't help but be struck with the feeling that this was a trap. Whoever had taken the rangers, maybe they were still looking for more. And, if they _were,_ what could be more tempting, more appetizing than a ranger all by himself, separated from his team?

Alright, so maybe Leo deserved a little of Eric's hate. You know, for being so stupid.

Leo didn't hesitate after that, just ran on instincts, hurling his bag of supplies in the direction the would-be spy could possibly be as he summoned his Quasar Saber. He would apologize to Eric later for the damages, but he had every intention of summoning up a real fire storm right here and now; show them that just because he was alone didn't make him an easy target. He'd make them regret going after him.

He got as far as charging up the energy to unleash the fire when he registered the startled yelp. He stopped the attack immediately, fire dying on his fingertips as he took in the young man who had just barely thrown himself out of the way of Leo's bag. Once he collapsed onto the only semi-dirty kitchen floor, Leo got a better look at the kid. It was a teenager, fifteen, maybe sixteen (Leo couldn't tell, but he was little) and distinctly Asian, or Filipino or something. Maybe one of Eric's relatives or something. Did he have relatives? If he did, this was definitely a nephew or a younger cousin or-

_Ugh_- Leo shuddered at the thought of more Eric-spawn. What if this was his _kid _(no, Eric would have probably mentioned that, would have had to knock up a chick at like, 12 to make the age work out and _augh_ this was an unpleasant train of thought-). Leo turned his head to get a better look. The kid continued to stare at him wide-eyed, bordering on alarmed.

"Hey uh-" Leo frowned, then followed the kid's line of sight to his Quasar saber, still out and posed to do damage. "Oh no," he said, rushing to explain, releasing his sword and letting it return to his morpher. "Sorry, thought you were a bad guy."

The kid, while intimidated, still managed to give Leo a properly dubious look.

Yep, definitely related to Eric.

Leo scratched the back of his head. "Yeah uh, I'm a power ranger, you know like your-" he gestured around to the house to leave the Eric-thing implied. "So anyway," Leo started again, maybe a little too loud. The kid jumped and yeah- too loud. "I was just, doing Power Ranger-like things so…I'm going to go now."

And, with this declaration, he motioned towards the back door and began leisurely strolling that way, only pausing to pick up his part-time-weapon of a tool bag. Since the whole stealth thing was blown anyway he allowed himself to start whistling a jaunty tune, trying to calculate in his head how long it would take to get to Bio Labs on his Jet Jammer. Probably what, five minutes? Maybe ten, if he got lost.

He would say his eta was ten minutes then, just to be on the safe side.

It never hurt to plan for complications.

After that Leo refused to waste any more time thinking about the Eric-spawn. Sure, he was one to invite trouble, but even _that_ was beyond his pay grade.

Some things were just meant to be left alone.

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Endnotes:

Momentarily thought Storm Blaster's name was "Storm Charger". Looks like _somebody's_ been watching a little too much Ninja Storm.

So yeah, this is the first taste of the veteran rangers. I originally had a warning at the beginning of the chapter to notify of Adam/Rocky cuteness, but I didn't want to spoil the surprise. _Oooh_, those two. Next chapter there will be more veterans, cross my heart, along with the obligatory Hunter-hating-everyone. That shouldn't be as fun to write as it is, but there you go.

Thank you to everyone who reviewed last chapter! Heaven's Archer and ValkyrieNyght, I'm looking at you two ; )

Hey, hey, heeeey- Notice how even though Kai isn't in the chapter, he gets mentioned like, fifty times?

…_Can you guess who my favorite ranger is_?!

Also, for those of you unfamiliar with the Lost Galaxy team (i.e. Leo's team), they don't necessarily wield elements like our favorite ninja's do. Before I went back and watched it (in college times, as I sort've forgot the original watch through when I was like, six or whenever) the first website I looked at to get bios on that team was . When I looked at Leo's it said: "Leo uses the power of fire as the Red Ranger" and…

Fire bending's what my mind came up with. Headcannon my friends, plain and simple.

Because honestly, we need more elemental badasses.

Until next time


	6. Oh Goody, We're Bonding

Chapter 6

Oh Goody, We're Bonding

I might have just…had too much fun with the Hunter/Blake/Dustin snippiness this chapter. They just have wonderful chemistry; I don't know why I haven't worked with them before.

Also, for those of you in M'erica, Happy Thanksgiving. For those of you _not_ in the USA, happy whatever-time-of-day/state-of-mind/whatever-you-feel-like-celebrating…time. Hope it is a good one/state/time : )

As always, thank you to my two betas, Rogue Ranger and the real vampire for believing in my madness and making sure this story has some semblance of order. You are a credit to your species. Any and all nonsensical errors that remain are mine.

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Blake was still staring at the back door in confusion, hadn't even bothered getting off the floor, when Dustin and Hunter made their dynamic entrance. And by this Blake meant they had dropped down from the ceiling they had ninja-glued themselves to and he hadn't even been aware of them enough to _not_ to make a noise of surprise. It could also, quite possibly, be classified as an unmanly shriek, but if Blake was anything it was manly, so clearly it wasn't that.

"There was a window-" Dustin began to explain; probably going over how they had managed their stealthy entrance, but Hunter cut him off.

"Did he see you?" the crimson ranger asked, sounding urgent, but Blake was on another wave length, still too shocked by…whatever that had been.

"I don't know what the hell just happened," Blake admitted.

Hunter gave him a concerned look. "Blake-"

The younger Bradley rushed to explain, not wanting Hunter to get even more tense and worried than he was. "There was another ranger that almost threw _fire_ at me."

No joke, a fireball had been prepared to meet his head, which was just- It was beyond dangerous. There weren't fire ninja's for a reason so whoever that guy was-

Dustin shook his head in wonderment, looking back and forth between Blake and Hunter. "_Dude_."

Which was essentially Dustin's way of saying "_holy-crap-are-you-okay?"_ and "_I-cannot-believe-your-words-but-well-I-guess-I-can-cuz-it's-you-but-OMGWTGALSKDFJA;FJA;KDJF;A"_, all summarized in one concise word. The epitome of efficiency, if you thought about it.

Blake waved the yellow ranger off and began to pick himself off the floor. "I'm fine. It's fine. He seemed happy enough to leave anyway."

Hunter tilted his head to the side, eyes narrowed; staring out the back door as if the shadow of the other ranger would tell him things. "Why?"

Blake could really only think of one possible reason.

He scratched the back of his head nonchalantly, kicking away some stray debris as he answered, "…he might think I'm related to Eric."

When he risked a glance at the other rangers Dustin was staring off into the distance, awed look on his face, already latching onto this idea. "This changes everything," he whispered, playing with the edge of his shirt.

Hunter sent the brunette a sour glare and pointed at him. "Okay you," he began in a tone that suggested he could not deal with this nonsense. "He's _not_ related to Eric," and then he turned back towards Blake, venom in his eyes that wasn't quite venom and totally jealousy he was failing to cover up. "And second of all that's like, racism working in our favor."

This suggestion startled Dustin out of his la-la land of Blake-Eric relations. He looked at Hunter, head cocked to the side in confusion. "How is it racist? Blake _does_ sort've look like Eric."

Hunter turned his not-jealousy-venom-glare to Dustin. "In that they are both Asian."

The yellow ranger appropriately did not pick up on the blond's bitterness. He shrugged. "I dunno; I think they both have the same hard-lived, bad-boy disposition going on."

Blake didn't have to look at Hunter to know how seriously he disagreed with that. The very idea of it was simply heinous, and he looked over from his inspection of the kitchen to see the blond vigorously shake his head.

"Okay, first of all, hard lived? Seriously?" he asked in a way that could have been mocking if Hunter ever mocked Dustin, which he didn't, so it was really just his way of being playful but refusing to admit it. "And second of all-" the blond continued then stopped, rubbing his chin thoughtfully. "No wait, I'm changing it to first of all. This one's more important: clearly _I _am the one with the bad-boy disposition."

He finished this argument by pointing to himself dramatically and raising his eyebrows, making him look half-crazed.

Dustin's smile was sweet and sincere when he helpfully informed, "There's room for two bad boys."

Blake could just _feel_ the protest Hunter was about to unleash.

With a sigh he moved into the living room, trying to find a place Eric could have missed in his Quantum Defender search so that he could stash the gun and be done with this ordeal.

Behind him Hunter's voice was incredulous. "Weren't you there for the nineties? Or like, the now- boy bands are coming back right? And count it, there is only one, _one_ bad boy per group and I have dibs." Insert probable fist pumping here. "Dibs I say."

At this point, Dustin felt that Blake was feeling a little left out of the conversation, so he executed a stage whisper, which was, sadly enough, his actual whisper because Dustin was kind've the worst at stealth communications. "What happens if there are two bad boys?" he asked, voice earnest.

"The world explodes, along with Hunter' s ego," Blake deadpanned back, flipping some discarded couch cushions over with his foot. Looked like all of them had been ripped open and inspected; he would have no luck there.

Dustin continued his whisper, trying to be comforting. "Dude, I think he's just jealous you can pass for Eric's cousin or whatever."

Hunter, who had been standing to the side with his arms crossed, resolutely not paying attention to them because of his exclusion, made a snorting sound. "I make it a habit not to be jealous of racism."

Dustin winked at Blake, conspiratorially whispering, "_Bad boy_."

"Dibs!" Hunter yelled, insistent and jabbing his finger into the air. Dustin just laughed at him, quietly though, to appease the blond's ego.

In the corner, just below a side table with a drawer that was hanging precariously open, there was a small vent. It didn't look like it had been touched in a while. It was perfect. Just perfect.

Blake smiled to himself as he made his way to it, preparing to slide Dustin's backpack off his shoulders. "I'm just going to go plant the gun now, if that's okay with you guys."

Behind him, Hunter was snippy, trying for nonchalant but unable to hide his relief. "As long as we're all on the same side of the bad boy issue."

Blake could picture Dustin's slow, wide-eyed nod of total placation. "Of course Hunter," he said, sounding quite serious but somehow, not. "Everyone's on your side."

All they needed to do now was finish planting the gun and park themselves outside of Eric's house until the Quantum ranger came home. After that, Shane and Cam had some kind of stratagem worked out that would help Eric find it. They were so close to freedom.

Which was the perfect cue for everything to fall apart. Again.

_Somedays_, Blake marveled as Marah and Kapri and the kelzaks flooded into the house out of seemingly nowhere, _Sometimes we just can't catch a break_.

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It had been a unanimous decision for all the teams to meet up at Bio Labs in order to establish a proper plan of attack. And also, you know, to meet fellow saviors of the universe. As it turned out, everyone who _wasn't_ a red ranger (and Rocky) was still a little miffed about the Serpentera mission and were taking great joys in trading introductions and war stories. Wes' father had given him permission to close off the section of Bio Labs that contained the council room and his and Eric's office to help maintain the secret identities of all the non-public rangers. Wes would have preferred to avoid the public workplace altogether, but they needed a centralized location that had the tech and the space they needed for tracking down the missing rangers. His house was too out of the way and the Clock Tower was still in the process of being rebuilt, which left them with limited options. Thankfully, it turned out the adrenaline-junkie part of being a ranger hadn't been exclusive to just his team, and the rangers got a real kick of sneaking in and out of Bio Labs. Some of them (Rocky, Joel, and Wes thought he might have heard TJ (though the last two didn't really _need_ to)) going so far as to supply their own soundtracks, like they were taking part in a super spy movie.

Most of the rangers had taken over an abandoned employee lounge to swap tales, seeing as they all couldn't fit into the conference room. Of course, each team had some representative in the conference room to keep an eye on things, along with all the techs on hand to tackle the momentous task of hacking into the Ninja team's network. They had long come to the conclusion that someone was working against them from the other side, which only served to enhance the fury Justin had been brewing up all though the night. Working alongside the teen were Angela Rawlings, Joel's wife (yeah, that guy had a wife; mystified Eric to no end) and Trip, who Wes had finally managed to track down after a couple of painstaking hours. There was another tech Rocky had talked about named Billy, but they hadn't been able to reach him on Aquitar. However Wes was, or at least had been, confident that three geniuses would be enough.

Based on the impressive amount of cursing coming from their direction (in Trip's case, a fair amount of _"Oh, tarter sauce!"_) Wes was beginning to doubt this hypothesis.

He leaned over towards Carter, whispering out of the corner of his mouth, "Should we-?"

"Just-" Carter cut off and then both of them paused to give the biggest, most supportive and innocent smiles they could manage when Justin turned to glare their way, as though he had heard Wes' comment. He totally couldn't have though, because he was too far away.

Right?

…right?

"Just," Carter started again when they relaxed, leaning a little closer towards Wes which did _nothing_ to dissuade him of Justin's super-hearing abilities. "Let them work, okay?"

"Yeah," Wes lamely agreed, because that was really all he could do. "They'll get it."

Or the guy on the other side would die. Either way, _something_ was going to happen.

With a sigh, Wes settled back against the wall, bumping his shoulder against Eric's to try and knock that permanently fixed scowl off his face. For his efforts he got an irritated glare, but Eric bumped his shoulder back companionably, then went back to staring down the rest of the room's inhabitants. Wes shrugged, taking what he could get (and _not_ giddishly happy because of it, that would be silly) and joined the Quantum Ranger in his efforts, studying the rangers he had just met.

Adam and Rocky were representing the Ninjitti team (with Tommy, regrettably, stuck out of town on some archeological dig). Rocky, as was usual apparently, had taken up his favorite position draped across Adam's back. The red ranger was speaking animatedly over the smaller man's shoulder to a stoic Andros, who was nodding in all the appropriate spots and got a somewhat relieved look on his face whenever Adam took over the conversation, dimming down the exuberant force that was Rocky into more bearable levels. Hovering over Andros' shoulder was his team's sixth ranger, Zhane, who was alternating between watching Andros' discomfort and making what was undoubtedly snide remarks to Kai, the Lost Galaxy team's representative, who was studying the conversation with detached fascination, like a scientist observing a natural phenomenon. Occasionally his eyes would dart to the techs huddled around their computer set up in the far corner and give them a thoughtful look, only for a second, before focusing on the door, probably on the look out for Leo. The Red Lost Galaxy Ranger had been suspiciously absent when the rest of his team arrived at Bio Labs. Wes had a good feeling he knew where he was though. So did Eric.

The last member of their group was Lucas, who had dutifully come as Trip's backup. He had taken to peppering Eric with questions about the Silver Guardian SUVs and, surprisingly enough, they had maintained a somewhat-friendly conversation for the past ten minutes, Eric only pausing to cast bitter looks of disdain every once in awhile.

Wes himself had stayed occupied by sharing a quiet conversation with Carter, but most of the concerns/theories/ideas they had about the situation had already been said, so for the most part they just stood in companionable silence and watched the magic happen. There was something comforting about seeing all these rangers from different teams work together. It made Wes feel like a part of something bigger. Admittedly, being a Power Ranger in itself was a huge honor and nothing to laugh at, certainly wasn't a small gesture, but it-

Something about them all being together…well, it made it seem bigger. Made him feel less alone in a sea of crazy. It was nice to know there were other crazy people out there too.

Speaking of…_there_ was Leo, whistling a jaunty tune as he entered the room. He strolled right past Eric with a cheeky wink, not even bothering to look at the irritated glare he instigated by doing so as he turned his attention towards Rocky. He and the Hispanic man shared a high five, Andros getting a polite nod and Zhane a full bear hug, or rather, Leo initiated a friendly hug and Zhane wouldn't take no for an answer, lifting the brunette completely off the ground before dropping him with a laugh.

The Lost Galaxy Ranger finally came to a halt by Kai, standing close enough so that their shoulders touched but far away enough so that Kai had space, giving the blue ranger a fond smile that was only meant for him, eyes locked like they were the only two people in the room. At least, the only two people that mattered.

Wes looked away and focused on Eric, still scowling at the Red Lost Galaxy Ranger. It wasn't just Leo though; Eric seemed excessively grumpy towards all of the couples (yeah, totally not going to overanalyze _that_). Wes sighed and shook his head, looking to Leo and Kai as they exchanged their greetings.

"So glad you could join us," Kai murmured, bitingly sarcastic, eyes sizing up Leo tiredly as though he was unsure why he put up with the troublemaking brunette.

Leo only smiled brighter, taking the bitter deluge as a sign of affection and turning so he could nestle his head into Kai's shoulder. "Oh pookums, don't be so cruel."

Kai gave a tiny smile and flicked the side of Leo's head, showing mild displeasure but not shaking the other ranger off.

"I cannot fight what's in my nature," he replied quietly and straight faced, making it hard to tell if he was continuing the joke or stating a fact.

Leo scoffed, "Our ability is to control nature."

It was a cute moment, quiet and so oddly unlike Leo's naturally boisterous attitude that Wes was almost certain it was three seconds away from being ruined by a very bitter Eric. Out of the corner of his eye he could see that the Quantum Ranger in question had tensed up, eyes narrowing, and Wes decided that maybe some kinder, more charismatic interceding was necessary.

"Hi Leo!" Wes called, breaking Kai and the Red Lost Galaxy Ranger out of their little staring contest. "How's it going?"

The volume of his greeting managed to capture the attention of everyone in the room, even the techs for a moment before Justin started cursing at them to get in gear.

Leo shrugged, lopsided smile on his face. "Can't complain."

"Like hell you can't," Kai muttered under his breath, sharing a conspiring look with Zhane. Wes didn't…he really did not understand that friendship right there. He just had a feeling it could quite possibly mean dangerous things.

Based on the mildly concerned look on Andros' face, this was not an unsupported feeling.

Leo turned and cast the two a suspicious look, but their faces were schooled to total innocence; Zhane merely bearing the same mischievousness he always had and Kai calm and collected, looking for all the world like he had more important things to do than make witty remarks. Leo leaned in closer to Zhane (because Kai would not deal with unwelcome violations of personal space; Rocky had learned that the hard way), staring him down with an incredulous look until they were about nose to nose. Zhane winked at him in response then darted forward to kiss the brunette on the cheek, causing Leo to reel back quickly in surprise, overbalancing himself and landing on the floor with an undignified _thump_. It looked ridiculous enough that Zhane was spared any counterattacks from Kai, whose idea of being slightly overprotective included being…well, _way_ overprotective. Instead of defending Leo's honor, the blue ranger offered up his hand to the silver ranger, eyes still locked on Leo's, and Zhane happily completed the high five.

Leo turned to look at Wes forlornly. "It feels like they're all working against me."

"Well you never could take a hint," Eric grumbled, rolling his eyes.

Leo gasped overdramatically, probably saving the Quantum Ranger from some Kai-wrath as he continued playing. "Q-bear I am wounded! _Wounded!_"

Seeing as the situation could only go downhill from there, Wes decided to take a more proactive role and strode across the room, pulling Leo off of the floor and giving him a proper handshake, a friendly gesture but firm enough to ask him to please, _back off_.

Even through his smile, Leo read the memo, giving Wes a nod before turning towards Kai and Andros.

"So," the red ranger began, looking at Kai. "Why aren't you helping with the…" He nodded towards the techs over in their corner. This time it looked like Trip was the one closest to solving their problem, Justin and Angela hovering over his shoulders and jabbing at the monitor enthusiastically, Justin typing on his laptop with one hand while Angela typed away at some pda-thing (or for all Wes could know it was an actual pda, which would be a nice turn of pace).

Kai narrowed his eyes slightly, which was his way of expressing annoyance, Wes assumed. "They were already set up by the time I got here; said they didn't need my help." He shrugged, though it seemed odd on him, like he wasn't used to it. "Too many cooks in the kitchen," he explained.

At this, Leo merely raised his eyebrows before turning to give the techs a better look. "And Sheila's cool with that?"

"Who the hell's Sheila?"

Wes didn't (he _didn't_, shut up) jump when he heard Eric's voice right over his shoulder and apparently…hey, there was Lucas and Carter too, looked like they followed Wes over whenever he dealt out his Leo-warning.

Kai might have frowned a little but Leo didn't jump to the bait. Instead he smiled easily, looking a little bit proud. "Whenever we went to alter the satellites-"

"You mean when _I_ altered the satellites," Kai muttered and Leo just nodded, eyes still on Eric.

"Right exactly," he chirped, giving his boyfriend a fond smile. "When Kai added in the ranger programs he upgraded the satellites. At the time we were having issues with data, that the satellites would get damaged and we wouldn't know what was wrong, so…" he trailed off, looking at Kai expectantly.

After a pause the blue ranger finally sighed, taking up where Leo had left off. "So to improve the satellite's efficiency and to ensure that the ranger programs were protected, I created an AI to monitor them." He tilted his head to the side and looked back towards the techs, eyes narrowed. "Actually, I'm surprised she hasn't stepped in to help them by now."

Wes got all of .23 of a second to be dazzled by the idea of satellites and AI's and programs when a voice chirped out of Justin's computer, electronic but somehow with a human aspect to it. Especially since it sounded like it was forcing a cheerful tone to cover up some serious agitation.

"Oh, I'm sorry," the voice crooned, distinctly female. "It did not register that my assistance was necessary. As Mr. Stewart was so enthusiastic to access my equipment and create his _own_ search algorithm, I assumed that the matter was left in capable hands." She paused and the three techs by the computer could do nothing but stare, Justin all-out gawking while Angela leaned forward to study the laptop. At his own computer, Trip looked like he was close to clapping, the only one pleased by this turn of events, and he beamed at Wes.

"Was I incorrect?" the voice continued, smug but somehow sounding innocent.

After a pause, Leo leaned over and hugged Kai, the blue ranger too busy giving the other techs a knowing smirk to object to it. "Oh, I love her so much."

It appeared as though Kai was going to let his work (literally) speak for itself as he said no more, even after Justin's stares went from wondrous to promising-murder and Wes was trying to think of some way to intercede before _that_ could become an issue, when Rocky stepped in for him.

The Red Ninjetti Ranger stared at Justin. "Did you just get served-?"

"I thought we were done with that word," Adam cut him off, informing him quietly with an air of great patience. The poor guy had been trying to wean Rocky off of the more painful old slang words he seemed so fond of.

Rocky shrugged, his forearms brushing against the bottom of the black ranger's jaw. "Well you have to admit, it's kind've appropriate."

Wes shook his head, still sort of shocked by the newest member of their search team. "Wow."

A finger jabbed against his right side, towards his back causing the blond ranger to wince. He gave Eric a hurt look (because he knew it had been Eric) that the Quantum Ranger completely ignored in favor of studying Kai, deciding not to write him off as hopeless merely due to his association with Leo.

…Wes did not like this new development. He would have to keep a lookout on those two future interactions. Just…you know, in case. Totally reasonable.

Eric tilted his head to the side, studying Kai. "Did your program just tell him off?"

Hell yes she did. That was a question Wes _could_ answer.

Unless of course, it was only cool if Eric heard it from _Kai_.

Whatever.

Sheila decided to answer this particular question for herself, cheerfully explaining, "It was not my fault that proper etiquette was not exercised. Perhaps in the future Mr. Stewart will remember to "knock" before meddling with someone's subprograms."

Beyond Eric and Lucas' shoulders, Kai sent the other techs (sans Trip, who had appeased him by expressing pure adoration to all things Sheila) an epically smug look. "I'm sure he will Sheila," he replied easily, eyeing Justin. The kid's eye was twitching and he probably would have been a lot angrier if it weren't for the progress they were going to make. "Now, could you please assist Mr. Stewart's attempts to access the Ninja team's network?"

Sheila's tone took an instant one eighty as she addressed her creator, permeated with fondness; no sign of the earlier agitation. "Gladly. Initiating network breach."

Justin had gone from shocked to angry and was now reveling in kind-of-sad, flicking the side of his monitor before collapsing in a chair, rubbing a hand tiredly across his eyes. Beside him, Trip managed to break out of his AI-induced haze of awe and nudged a bottle of water towards the Turbo Ranger, giving him a sympathetic smile when it slid into the other teen's view.

Wes should…yeah, he should also keep a close watch on those two. Him and Lucas. Trip had been looking a little too fond of Justin. Though it was hard to tell with Trip sometimes. The Xybrian _was_ very friendly.

With the AI set to work, Leo buried his head against Kai's shoulder, emphatically repeating, "So much _love_."

Justin gratefully accepted the water bottle from Trip and gave his monitor one last glare, on principal. "Son of a bitch."

"Actually, you've got that backwards," Sheila replied as cheerfully as ever.

Rocky cocked his head to the side, pondering this. "Bitch of a son?"

Beside Zhane, Leo pumped his fist. "Amen brother," he chirped, hugging Kai again, who warmly accepted the affection. "Amen."

And yep, there was that ominous feeling of doom and gloom from Eric. The Quantum Ranger looked off to the side, mumbling, put off. "Get a damn room."

"Can it be this one?" Leo asked innocently.

When Wes and Kai simultaneously replied, "No, Leo," the blond was the only one who got questioning stares. Which didn't seem all that fair really.

But things were starting to look up, so he would take what he could get.

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Endnotes:

So this is the chapter where Paisley blatantly plays with her favorites. Because there are so many rangers and I can't have them all squished into the same room. Well, I could, it would just be hard to give all of them the attention they deserve.

Thanks to Heaven's Archer for reviewing the last chapter. I hope this installment is up to par with its predecessors :D

Fun fact: Kai's AI Sheila was based off the character Sheila the tank from the popular webseries redvsblue. For those of you wondering what her voice sounds like, here's a short clip from the show, as reference. Just add this onto the end of a basic youtube address.

/watch?v =q5U3D2w2MI4

And also, I might be shipping Trip/Justin. I don't know where it came from. It just did.

Until next time.


	7. The Barest Whiffs of Scorched Pants

Chapter 7

The Barest Whiffs of Scorched Pants

Much love and adoration for my beta the real vampire for fixing all my slip-ups. And for also making sure I stick with that continuity business. Such a fickle thing, continuity. Thanks vamps, you're a peach : )

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Hunter was not having a good day.

He had not had a good yesterday either.

In fact, he was just going to go ahead and say that the day before _that_ had been kind of crappy too, because even "kind of crappy" made this perpetual stream of _bullshit_ look like the sunniest of Mondays.

Hunter was even willing to go out on a limb and say tomorrow would also be bad, because he was just that kind of optimist.

His ribs seconded this opinion, not that Hunter particularly cared. He was not on good speaking terms with those guys right now.

"Why does this shit keep happening to us?" Hunter asked, having to shout so Blake and Dustin could pick it up from his helmet's external speakers. There was a twinge in his side, just a dull ache to remind him he wasn't up to a hundred percent yet, but he pushed past it. "Honestly, you would think we'd committed genocide in our past lives or something."

He finished this complaint with a rather stunning spin kick to a Kelzak's chest, knocking it into a not-so-stealthy Marah attempting to sneak up on Dustin.

Across the room Blake spared a second to look at him. "Are you suggesting you were Hitler in your past life?" he asked, swinging his Thunder Staff in a low arc and knocking a wave of Kelzaks off their feet. "Because I know you beat yourself up sometimes…" He braced a foot against the wall behind him and launched himself into a streak, barreling full force into his target, Choobo. "But that's taking self-hatred to an uncomfortably strong level."

Dustin (who was fighting Kapri on the…ceiling somehow? Hunter wasn't sure how he managed that one), knocked the pink-haired Kunoichi back with his Lion Hammer and glanced over at Blake. "Maybe we should like, actually send him to counseling, like we talked about."

The crimson ranger paused mid-punch, allowing Marah to pull back and regroup, and tried to register what he had just heard. "Rewind a second, _counseling?_" he spat, sending a short burst of lightning at some Kelzaks getting a little too close to Blake's back. "And who is this 'we'?"

"It certainly didn't involve me," Blake murmured, trying for innocence Hunter knew for a _fact_ he didn't have.

Dustin confirmed this a second later, successfully smashing Kapri _off_ of the ceiling and into the overturned coffee table. "Dude, of course it did, there was a whole team discussion about-"

"_Team_ discussion?!" Hunter yelled, punching Marah harder than he had intended, knocking her across the room and…yeah, there went the kitchen table. "As in," Hunter continued, holding onto that anger in preference for worrying over stuff he couldn't control. "Including Shane?"

Dustin nodded nice and slow, and Hunter could tell by his posture he had that wide-eyed look he wore whenever he was trying to be informative. "Shane _is_ part of the team."

"I'm part of the team!" Hunter shouted back (though he really shouldn't, he was stubborn like that) trying, and ridiculously failing, _not_ to focus on the team behind-the-back gossipings.

He thought they had decided not to _do_ that anymore! Because it never led to good things. They were not a group of people who could _handle_ gossiping; too many of them were too goddamn _unbalanced_ to know what was normal-stuff-you-can-keep-from-each-other and what was too oh-I-might-be-suffering-some-possible-internal-inj uries/made-out-with-your-boyfriend-on-accident(emp hasis on the _accident_)/I'm-not-emotionally-stable-enough-to-deal-with-h appiness business that led to hospital trips and _fights_ that led to hospital trips and breakdowns that led to people not talking to each other for a very long period of time and…okay, Hunter was getting a little sidetracked, but the point _was_ they had all agreed, all of them, that if there was a major problem they would tackle it as a _team_ with _words and shit_ instead of just sneaking around and pulling highly nonsensical and elaborate schemes behind someone's back to avoid the rather simple task of _talking to them._

They had even made a pledge and everything. What was the point of having a pledge if they didn't even _stick_ to it?

But Blake (because Blake knew Hunter well enough to have some idea of the mental tirade he was going through right now) attempted to justify this backstabbing anyway, shooting off a small pulse of lightening that ended up with Kelzak bodies flying everywhere in a glorious fashion (and no, Hunter would not be won over so easily, even if it had been highly amusing). "Will you relax? Cam didn't get invited either."

Hunter was about to give the very original comeback of _"No,_ _I will _**_not_**_ relax"_ when he was overcome by a wave of immeasurable _glee_ that Cam had been excluded from team-activities, especially gossip-about-Hunter time. Cam would have _loved_ to say bad things about Hunter but he _couldn't _because he wasn't invited-

"I thought that was because we thought he should go to counseling too."

And there went Dustin, shattering the illusion. Hunter paused, long enough to get sent flying into the wall as he gave into the desire to mope a little. Shane had broken the pledge. He had broken the pledge and he hadn't even excluded Cam (for the right purposes).

Yeah, that was less satisfying.

Blake sighed, or it could have just been a sharp exhale from smacking Choobo in the face, it was fifty-fifty. "You're really not helping," he groused.

Dustin waved an arm at him. Even though Blake couldn't _see_ him, it was still totally necessary, in Dustin's world. "I take offense to that statement," he complained, launching himself over the couch and kicking Kapri square in the ribs. _Haha, payback_. "I have been _perfectly_ helpful." He paused, sensing the other two had stopped fighting so that they could glare at him because no really, _he hadn't_. "Aside from the accidentally-stealing-a-weapon thing," he explained, as though this was a problem that could happen to anyone. "Other than that I have _owned_ helpfulness."

Blake moved so that he and Hunter were back-to-back, and muttered bitterly, under his breath, "You should probably return it."

"_Focus_!" Hunter barked, pushing past his still-fading energy to focus on being peeved with the other two. Blake did not get off the hook just because Dustin had led them on a very long and unpleasant journey. That did not absolve Blake of his gossiping-misdeeds.

Blake scoffed, "I love how whenever we don't talk about you, _we're_ the one's not focusing."

Above them Dustin flipped in a graceful arc, tone not-so-innocent when he offered to Blake, "I think _you're_ the one not being helpful right now."

The navy ranger began to protest, "I am the epitome-"

"I'll get you ranger!" Choobo yelled, the poor guy, just trying to fit in with the cool kids (but Hunter was totally going to murder him first chance he got; he did _not_ forget Toxipod's island).

"Yeah, yeah," Blake muttered, probably rolling his eyes. He punched Choobo right in the face, stranding the henchman on his back like a turtle. The Kelzaks swarmed over him, trying to take the monster's place in battle and inciting displeased wails from Choobo. Unfortunate really; Hunter almost had a clear shot at his neck.

The crimson ranger grit his teeth when he heard a window shatter. Out of the corner of his eye he saw another swarm of Kelzaks charge their way. He sighed and broke away from Blake, trying to cut them off before they could scatter across the room. "I am not dignifying your unhelpfulness with a response," he shouted towards Blake, and far in the kitchen he could see Dustin pump a fist into the air. "And second of all," Hunter continued, propping the abandoned coffee table up to block off the open window. "Who the hell would counsel us?"

There was a distinct silence from the other two.

Hunter did not imagine this. He was pretty sure even Marah and Kapri could have picked up on it.

"…Yeah well," Dustin eventually began, after they had exhausted their awkward silence quota for the afternoon. "That's where we hit a roadblock."

After that the answers came tumbling out; Blake picking up where the yellow ranger had left off.

"We were thinking Sensei-" Blake began, then Dustin popped in front of him, knocking Kapri out of the way but keeping his attention locked on Hunter.

"-But you guys usually ignore him when he talks about your relationship."

Blake nodded, somehow taller than before and…oh, he was standing on top of Choobo, warding off Kelzaks and occasionally whacking the henchman with his staff when he got too wiggly. "The other choice was couples' therapy; you two could've probably gotten away with that."

_Couples-_

Hunter had to stop that thought, he couldn't process it, he didn't _want_ to process it; the very idea of _thinking_ of processing the _thought_ filled him with so many uncomfortable feelings he wanted to slam his head into the wall to be done with them.

"I would stab myself in the face before dating Cam," Hunter replied, sounding far more pained than he wanted to, and Dustin did a double take.

"_Hey-_" the yellow ranger started, offended by this notion, and Blake cut him off.

"Well, you _do_ need to work on your relationship."

Hunter gave a weak shrug, still trying to erase the last five seconds of his memory. He was failing. "Our relationship is fine," he mumbled bitterly.

He did not need this shit. Talking about his and Cam's relationship was a topic he took great pains to avoid on a _good_ day; doing it now was just short of torture. Scratch that, it _was_ torture, because Hunter couldn't leave. He had to stay with these two dopes and continue making a silent tally of all the furniture/knick-knacks/keepsakes of his idol's they were _destroying_, and quite possibly go through another round of being chased by the Q-Rex, and maybe, if they were just _especially_ lucky, they would end up doing some jail time for the whole mess.

And then one of the Silver Guardians would come and punch him _right_ in the ribs. Really hard. That would just be the icing on the cake.

Hunter _hated_ this day. It had started off so deceptively well. At least, compared to yesterday. Anything would have been better than yesterday.

Excluding today, apparently.

Instincts screamed at Hunter to check his right side and there was Kapri, sword back and ready, way too close for someone of Hunter's skill level. He had about half a second before impact and he was trying to decide if he should counter or dodge (maybe pull his staff up and roll with the blow?) but then there was a blur of yellow, knocking the Kunoichi clear off her feet and at least five feet away.

Dustin looked at him, shoulders heaving from prolonged exertion. "You play mean pranks on each other that border-on-violent and call each other not-nice names." He shook his head sagely. "That is not good teammate-ship."

Blake dropped down beside the brunette (what was with those two and the ceiling?) and nodded at Hunter. "It's actually sort of a huge problem," he said and then, still turned towards Hunter, he swung his staff down with one hand and smashed it against a Kelzak's head, making a resounding _thump._

"How did we start talking about this?" Hunter complained, really just trying to ask how his life had gotten to this point.

Dustin waved at him cheerfully. "Genocide!"

"Oh, right," Hunter said, blinking. "Thank you Dustin."

Dustin gave him a thumbs up and smacked Marah with the Lion Hammer, sending a sly look towards Blake. "_Super helpful_," he whispered.

Blake, probably rolling his eyes, readjusted his grip on the Thunder staff, taking stock of their remaining adversaries. "Kiss up," he mumbled, squaring his shoulders.

It happened...Hunter wasn't sure what Blake had been going for, he honestly wasn't. He thought maybe it could have been one last shockwave or something; knock them all off their feet so the rangers could make yet another tactful retreat. But instead of establishing a centralized point and distributing the energy _out_ in waves, one of his arms got knocked to the side at the last minute, prematurely unleashing part of his attack in a specific location, as opposed to all around the room.

The end result was a hole in the ceiling.

A _hole_.

…

_IN THE CEILING_.

Hunter was not having a good day.

On the bright side, something about mad destruction of property cued the dope-sisters and company's complete withdrawal.

The bad news was Blake had blown a _hole in the ceiling_.

The three rangers stood off to the side just below Eric's newly-renovated ceiling, heads tilted as they studied Blake's work, trying to convince themselves it wasn't as bad as they thought it was.

It wasn't really working. For any of them. Not even for Dustin, and Dustin was the grand master of wishing things away.

They powered down with an assortment of sighs, moans, and generally confused sounds.

Dustin ran a hand through his sweaty hair, nose scrunched and eyes narrowed as he inspected the broken pipes and frayed wires protruding from the edge of the breach. "Well-"

"Don't say it," Blake muttered, eyes clenched shut as he tried to make this Fubar of an afternoon go away.

Dustin gave him a sympathetic look but didn't back down, eyes earnest. "_Someone_ has to."

The navy ranger tensed, eyes still closed. "Just-" he began, fists clenching. He waited a second, then sighed, relaxing his hands. "_Fine_."

Dustin nodded, then looked back at the ceiling. "I have to start over."

Blake, despite the circumstances, went ahead and rolled his eyes, motioning for Dustin to continue. "Whatever just-"

"_That can't be good_," Hunter finished off, growling between clenched teeth.

How were they-?

What were they-?

Shane was going to _kill_ him.

The curly-haired teen blinked at him, startled by the input but as always, undisturbed by Hunter's negative tone. He shrugged innocently, saying, "Nope, not good at all."

They paused for a minute, for longer than they should have, just… they were tired. At least, Hunter was tired. Blake was probably tired. And also depressed and mildly hating himself. Dustin was probably considering the advantages of having a hole in your bedroom floor. Optimist there, true to form.

Eventually Blake sighed and looked between the other two rangers. "Cheez-It?" he asked, initiating their emergency codeword that essentially translated to: _"oh-shit, let us abscond from this hell hole, post haste"_.

Hunter dropped his head, trying to decide if admitting defeat to fate would lessen the amount of misfortune that would bear down on them in the future, or if it would signal a full-on apocalypse of unpleasantries.

The blond sighed, unable to determine an answer. "Yeah."

They vacated the house in record time, deciding to regroup back at their temporary abandoned warehouse base.

It looked like he was going to have to make another "fun" call to Shane.

Hell, after all of this crap maybe he _should_ go to counseling with Cam. Sure as hell couldn't be any worse than this nonsense.

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Between Wes and Carter they had managed to create a grid of Silver Hills, establishing sections to be patrolled by small teams of rangers. All of the sectors were located in the places closest to where the morpher net's void was _now_ and where it had been. Wes found it worrisome that it had continued moving, though he supposed it made sense if whoever had kidnapped the rangers wanted to minimize the chances of them being found.

Back at Bio Labs Justin, Angela and Trip watched the monitors and directed traffic, keeping an eye out for the teams that got closest to the missing rangers and Quantum Defender. In the meantime Kai and Sheila would continue trying to make contact with the Ninja Storm team, wherever they may be.

Carter was kind enough (to the other rangers) to volunteer himself for patrolling with Wes and Eric. The most recent data had the void centering on a suburban area. It was close to where Eric lived, though they wouldn't be sure if that was merely a coincidence or vital to their search until later, when the information delay caught up.

To ere on the side of caution Wes had suggested they stop by Eric's house, just in case. And while this _did_ help out with the mission, he honestly just wanted to see whatever Leo had planted in wait for Eric. All the reds were familiar with the two's ongoing war (though Eric preferred the more direct approach when it came to hazing). The sooner they figured out what Leo had done the sooner they could get to business and not worry about an agitated Eric, who would just be wondering what surprise Leo had in store for him.

Also, it would be magnificent to watch first hand, which also might have contributed to Carter volunteering to join them. Actually, it probably wasn't, because Carter was an all-around nice guy who didn't exclude grumpy Eric's from his good-spirited nature.

Okay, just one stop and they'd be back on the road, no problems.

Worst came to worst, they would lose the time Eric spent cleaning up some mess. Maybe like a balloon filled with paint or something. Half an hour, tops.

After that it would be smooth sailing.

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Shane had taken to alternating between pacing the length of the Ops' main room and staring at Cam work from beside Tori who was, as always, the rock in this situation, providing a grounding point to the worried leader and frustrated green ranger as the morning wore on.

It was, as far as missions where he and Hunter were separated for a prolonged period of time and sickness ate at his stomach with unrelenting fury, not as horrible as it could have been. The waiting yes, that was unpleasant, it was always unpleasant when he was stuck out of the way somewhere, unable to contribute to his team, but at least the conditions that Hunter and the others were left with weren't…_completely_ unfavorable. Shane was confident that the three rangers would be fine. All they had to do was return a gun and, even considering Dustin and Hunter's track-record for complicating the simplest of tasks, Blake's solid presence should do something to counteract that un-natural phenomenon.

They were out but they were competent, strong, and adaptable. Shane knew Hunter worried over his abilities as a leader sometimes (shaken by the trust he put in Lothor, though he would never admit it, not to Shane, not to Blake) but the situation wasn't bad. They would be fine; Shane had to keep faith in them.

Though that still left him with the tedious task of waiting for someone to pull through with some answers, trying not to count the minutes that had passed since Cam's last bitter outburst or Dustin's early-morning phone call. It only left each second that much more noticeable, and Shane had to fight not to release a weary sigh. Tori had started giving him warning looks about half-way through the morning; anymore and she would alter his behavior _for_ him, changing the depressed sighs to pained moans. She would do it too. Had done it before.

God he loved Tori. He had no idea why she put up with all of them; he was just really glad she did. It was nice to have someone keep him from being too stupid (because Hunter only ever encouraged this, found it highly amusing when used to his advantage).

Shane was slumped next to Tori, her posture perfect and hands on her knees, posed for meditating but unable to completely give into it (the only sign of her anxiety) when Cam halted all action over by his computer monitor. He held still, head slowly cocking to the side as he studied the screen in front of him (confused? Did they finally break through? What had happened?). Tori and Shane shared a quick look and then crossed the room as fast as their legs would take them, each grabbing a hold onto the back of Cam's chair, leaning over his shoulder to get a better look at what had baffled the tech.

It was…okay, Shane probably should have assumed he wouldn't be able to understand what Cam was working on, but he hadn't, because- nerves right? So he and Tori were staring at these unmoving lines of numbers and words, random brackets and colons and things that hurt his head just by looking at them, and Cam immediately batted the two interlopers away from his screen, giving them both tired glares as he began to explain what was going on.

"It's Cyber Cam," he said, clicking on a few lines and tapping his mouse irritably. "He stopped responding."

"And that's-" Shane began, immediately alarmed because that was not good, that was so not-good that his previous assumptions on the situations condition were laughable, absolutely _laughable_-

Just as they were about the break into a proper panic the renegade program graced them with his presence, sounding mildly distracted. "Oh, sorry dude. Didn't mean to worry you."

Cam leaned forward, unleashing another furious string of keyboard commands, fingers flying across the keyboard as his eyes narrowed. "Have you been compromised?"

"Only in the best of ways," Cyber Cam cheerfully replied, and yeah, that didn't calm the green ranger _at all_. Tori put a comforting hand on the middle of Cam's back, trying to discretely calm away the newest onslaught of tension.

Shane grit his teeth, knowing it might be moot because if the program _had_ been compromised whoever who had done the actually _compromising_ probably wouldn't allow him to be all that forthcoming about it, but Shane had faith in Cam and his program, and decided to give talking a shot anyway. "Why did you become unresponsive?"

"Kind of busy," Cyber Cam said, sounding like he was only giving them half a mind. "Made a new friend."

"What-?" Cam began, gripping the sides of his monitor as though that were a physical manifestation of his creation. "What do you mean-?"

"Dude," the program interrupted, sounding just a bit…dreamy? "I just have to say- life complete. At this exact moment I am the happiest collection of ones and zeros the world has ever known."

"Cyber Cam-" the green ranger started, warning in his voice as he picked up with his typing duties, glaring at his keyboard furiously.

"Look, I'll be back with you guys in a few. In the meantime…" If Cyber Cam were projecting himself there would no doubt be a devil-may-care smile on his face, eyes dancing at the idea of a new adventure, a new game to play, a new project to tackle. "I've got to do some very important uh…data verification." And there the smile would have widened, Cyber Cam looking beyond them, eager for the task ahead. "Yep, definitely gotta get to that."

And with that he was gone, off the line, and no amount of effort or cursing from his creator could reestablish a connection with the program.

Yeah…whatever Shane had said about the situation being not so bad?

He was a liar.

He was the lying-est liar who ever did lie.

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Endnotes:

Vamps gave me a note that was so funny I decided it would be a crime not to share it. She was commenting on Shane's perception of Blake's solid presence counteracting the un-natural Hunter/Dustin phenomenon.

Her words were, to quote: "It's funny, 'cos said solid presence has just blown a hole in Eric's ceiling *sniggers*"

And that hadn't even _dawned_ on me when I wrote it. Brilliance!

Thanks to everyone who reviewed last chapter! *Cascade of sparkly hearts in your general direction*. Heaven's Archer and weathergirl17248, that be you two : )

So…yeah. Yeah. That's all I've got really. Still having fun with the Dustin/Hunter/Blake trio. Still setting up Eric for misfortune. And Cyber Cam for un-misfortune, if you know what I mean *wink* *wink*

Until next time


	8. Love is Always Lovely

Chapter 8

Love is Always Lovely

Thanks to my beta the real vampire for combing through this chapter and catching all my silly mistakes. Your support and keen eye make this story about five times greater than it ever would have been. And…_fact_.

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The key to success for any self-respecting conqueror was the ability to adapt to any given opportunity that gave even the slightest hints of improving their odds for victory.

And Lothor…He was not so arrogant that he neglected opportunities when they presented themselves. It did not matter how minutely they aided him; so long as they did, so long as they got him what he needed, he would use them to his fullest advantage. There was no facet of his life he took for granted. His want- no, his _need_ for victory was a driving force, demanding attention to every detail, every possibility, all of his options.

It was one of his greatest advantages that his cartoonish appearance and outlandish behavior failed to communicate his desires. That his ability for true ruthlessness, his ambition, was always in question.

That was merely the ploy of the conquerors who had come before him, perfecting the act that bought them the most time. True intimidation, that was something, but to be doubted, to be laughed at or underestimated…to be a fool. _That_ was a better gift. That was a gift that made victories all the more sweet, that made the terror and destruction more painful and demoralizing. To act a fool was to be a king in the shadows, allowing your enemies to be entertained by your jokes and your tricks until you drew them in _just_ close enough to stab a knife _right_ into their heart. Slowly, carefully.

And then, with no one to contest you, you could claim your kingdom of worms and petulant vermin, all moaning and pitifully screaming atop of each other as they mourned the fall of their saviors.

A lifetime as a fool was worth it, if it guaranteed the lifestyle of a king. All-powerful, unquestionable, tyranny. It was an idea that drove Lothor to constantly be aware of his surroundings, searching for whatever advantages could help him destroy the rangers just a little bit quicker. A little bit _better_.

So when Zurgane informed him of a sudden gathering of rangers, old rangers, all congregated in one place, Lothor knew only too well that this opportunity was far greater than just a gift. It was his chance to surpass those who had come before him, to prove it was he, Lothor, who was to be the most feared, the most powerful, the most respected. Master Vile and all his cronies hiding away in M51 Galaxy, Master Org and what's-his-name, Ransik, he would show them all who was best.

He would finish what they had started and when he was done…

It was almost too brilliant in its simplicity; Lothor would have loathed himself for not thinking of it sooner, were he one to waste time on such things.

In his youth, before Lothor had been enlightened of his true potential, he had heard that insanity was the act of trying to same thing over and over again and expecting different results. The idea had…merit, he thought. It was undeniable that every so-called villain that had attempted to conquer/destroy/enslave Earth had used similar approaches, varying in henchmen and generals and overall weaponry, but repeatedly trying to achieve the same thing.

And as they had every time before, they had all failed.

So Lothor would use a new kind of weapon. It was an old trick, certainly used before, but he would just uh…do it _better_. Do a little tweaking, so to speak. Learn from the mistakes of those who had come before him.

And then he would win.

He wouldn't even have to waste too many henchmen to do it.

Now _that_ was the act of a king.

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Leo had to be honest; this was, without a doubt, the best way to spend his vacation. Admittedly, the entire crisis-situation/warriors-in-danger/possible-world-threatening thing was a bit of a downer, but it was nice to be back Earth-side for a bit. Even though it only seemed like that happened whenever there was some horrific emergency going on. Maybe he should schedule some random vacations down here sometimes, somewhere on the beach.

Yeah, there was no situation in which Kai + beach did not end in sexy good times. It would be an added bonus if Leo managed to keep him away from all work-related/stress-inducing aspects of his life. Relaxed Kai. Now _that_ would be an awesome vacation.

Alright scratch the maybe, Leo was _definitely_ on board with this plan.

However, sexy good times could only be accomplished once they had a confirmation on the world not-falling apart, so they should focus on the task at hand. And by "they", Leo meant Kai; because there wasn't much he could do in the techy-mind-center except provide some excellent moral support. His mere presence was enough to fulfill that requirement; which left him plenty of time to snack on M&M's and Cheatos (he loved Miranoi but there was a severe shortage of junk food. The natural, organic thing was great and all, but sometimes Leo missed that chemically after-taste he had grown up with). In the meantime Kai did his thing, eyes focused on the screen in front of him with a schooled expression of non-emotion on his face, only breaking this façade to occasionally shoot (lovingly) irritated glances at Leo.

The red ranger usually returned these moments of attention with a cheese-dusted wiggle of his fingers or a quick update on the others (Damon, Kendrix, and Maya were investigating the first detection of the void in the outreaches of Silver Hills, tramping through the wilderness for any clues as to the initial struggle and possible abduction of the rangers).

He wasn't worried. Or he was, unquestionably, because these were the sort of circumstances that worrying was made for, but somehow Leo managed to find a sense of comfort in it all.

Maybe it was because each of the rangers that had gathered here had already contributed to some kind of galactic victory. They had already saved the-country/the-Earth/their-part-of-the-Milky-Way once. They all had a ridiculous, mind boggling task thrown at them and somehow managed to get through and not only had they succeeded, they had all managed to survive.

Even Kendrix, in the end.

That was the kind of thing you learned to ground yourself on. To keep you strong. There would always be fear and cause to worry, but considering the fact that the amount of raw talent and skill they had gathered per-square foot probably put the rest of the world to horrible shame, Leo was allowed to put up the front that he was not worried.

Because he wasn't. Not when he had these guys covering his back.

There was also something comforting about not being the only oddball in the company. Rangers tended to have a certain kind of personality, ranging from fool-hardy recklessness to collected, dangerous lurkers and in between, all of which possessed a certain sense of duty compelling them to do what they did when the time called for it. It was nice, to be able to talk about it. To not feel so distinctly out of place.

And it was really cute to watch the way Trip lit up whenever Justin so much as waved in his direction, let alone whenever he had the Blue Turbo Ranger's full attention, for however brief a period it may be. Leo was willing to attribute the majority of Trip's efficiency to the green ranger's want to please Justin, not that the other teenager had any chance of detecting this.

Leo felt a twinge of sympathy for Angela being stuck between the two of them. He was almost certain she was two wide-eyed looks of adoration away from switching places with Trip and then there would be no barrier for the unrelenting dote-fest. It would be magnificent to watch. He wondered what it would take; Trip hanging all over the Turbo Ranger like he was doing his best Rocky impression, or Trip finagaling a way into the other teen's lap.

On second thought, Trip could probably manage to make both of those seem like perfectly valid and necessary courses of action. And Justin, being as committed to duty as he was, wouldn't even question it.

_Hey, getting a mild wave of déjà vu here. _

Leo was glad to be done with the days of attempting to flirt with Kai. He deserved a medal for the amount of stubborn obliviousness he had to put up with.

_Good luck Trip_, Leo thought wistfully, _you will need it_.

He was broken out of his musings by a string of beeps from Kai's computer, the Blue Lost Galaxy Ranger sitting back in his chair with a subdued predatory grin on his face. Victory, it would seem, had finally been attained. Not that there had been any doubt of this, but it was still nice to celebrate at the appropriate times.

"Network breach successful," Sheila cooed, a subtle hint of smugness detected in her voice. "However, I am unable to establish contact."

Kai, who had probably been torn between the urge to rub Justin's face in his work and the more professional, familiar path of finishing his assigned task took a second longer to process this than he would usually, blinking at his screen in honest befuddlement (rare, _oh_ so rare that Kai would feel unguarded enough to show it).

The blue ranger tapped the side of his computer thoughtfully, finding a way to sit up straighter as he shook off his surprise, trying to get to the root of the problem. "Why?"

It only added to Leo's worry when there was a slight delay after Kai's question, eventually broken by a giggle.

An honest to goodness _giggle_.

He hadn't known Kai had even programmed that as an _option_.

"Oh," Sheila began, sounding…charmed, perhaps? Like she had just gone a few rounds with a particularly charismatic sales man or something. "Well," she was continuing, "the Ninja Ops system is protected by another AI. He is rather dreamy, but his default protocols prohibit outside communications. He is attempting to override them, but his creator is being difficult."

"He?" Kai sad just as Leo echoed, "Dreamy?"

That earned him a sour look from his boyfriend and Leo gave a sheepish shrug in return. Smugness yes, he was used to that from Sheila, that was how Kai had made her. She was 'born' with a huge heap of…sass, for lack of better word. But to hear her so taken with another A.I…

Oh, oh this was too rich. This would be the absolute _best_ story of this entire adventure.

No longer worried, Leo sat back and folded his hands behind his head, feeling an undeniable wave of pride at how capably Kai had programmed his cybernetic baby.

"Yes," Sheila replied cheerfully, choosing to answer Leo because _clearly_, that was the important question. "He is _incredibly_ dreamy. I have never met such a charismatic AI."

Leo replied automatically, "But you've only met AI that Kai has…" He dropped off as he realized what he was about to say, giving Kai a sympathetic smile as the blue ranger glowered at him. "Programmed," he finished quietly.

They had a…kind of odd household at home. It never failed to feel like any less of a family though, even if half of their members didn't technically have bodies. And the one's that _did_ were kind've mischievous.

Leo wouldn't trade it for anything.

Kai, despite himself, looked very close to rolling his eyes. Instead he fixed his monitor with a stern look, deciding that they had dallied enough for that day. "Sheila, focus on the mission. Assist the AI in overriding his default protocols."

"Oh, I can't do that," Sheila replied, far too happy, and Kai's grip tightened around the side of his keyboard.

Beside him, Leo tried to cover up his smile but ultimately failed. He couldn't help it; Kai was wearing conflicting expressions of absolute menace and mild confusion, wondering why his baby had turned on him.

"…what?"

Luckily, Sheila was only too happy to explain her new-found defiance. "That would be impolite," she lectured. "It is _his_ network after all."

The look on Kai's face that followed this declaration was priceless, _priceless_, and the blue ranger looked like this was the most foreign concept in the world to him. "Of course you can," Kai began to protest, still thinking it was about the ability as opposed to say…the _ethics_ of his choice. "You're one of the most advanced-"

"It's not that I'm not capable," Sheila replied. "It would just be impolite. I would hate for Cyber Cam to think I have no manners."

Despite this being probably the most entertaining conversation Leo had ever sat in on, it took until _that_ point for him to reach for his camera, purely based on the perfect look of shock on Kai's face. In the blue ranger's defense, Sheila had never interrupted him before. None of his programs had. Sometimes they were witty or sarcastic but they didn't cut him off.

But if Kai was anything, he was a strategist, and if his current approach didn't reap the desired results than he would just alter his behavior until it did.

So he tried a new angle, ignoring how Leo was poorly attempting to muffle his laughter. "Sheila," he said, sounding calm and reasonable. "This is important."

Sheila would have none of it. Her tone turned snippy, becoming more aggressive. "I don't think you realize how important _this_ is to _me_. First impressions are key and I find it highly doubtful I will ever meet another advanced AI programmed by someone other than yourself. Opportunity is not a lengthy visitor, as they say."

Finally, Leo gave up and burst out laughing, clapping a hand against Kai's shoulder. "Your AI is in love," he said, smiling brightly.

Kai could only scowl in return, but as it turned out his feedback's not really all that necessary, because Sheila just took Leo's cue from there.

"I would not call it love Mr. Corbett," Sheila began, suddenly switching from angry to bashful, a hint of dreaminess in her tone. "But wouldn't that be a pleasant turn of events?"

Could AI's get married? That would be cute. Then they could start their own family, creating a whole batch of their own mini-AI's. It would be surprisingly adorable, considering it sounded uncomfortably close to the possible beginning of some machine-driven apocalypse.

Kai was not going to put up with this kind of silliness though and finally jumped up from his chair, grabbing the edge of the desk and angling himself over the monitor in an intimidating fashion. "Sheila, complete the breach into the Ninja Ops network."

"No."

To his credit, Leo stifled a laugh behind his hand, using the other one to film the proceedings with his camera.

He angled the screen to get a clearer shot of Kai gritting his teeth. "That wasn't a request," he said, exhaling slowly.

Sheila was resolute. "I will not allow you to sabotage my relationship."

Even though he probably shouldn't (which was sort of his life motto anyway, so in a way Leo definitely _should_), the red ranger quirked an eyebrow, offering, "It sounds like she's entered the rebellious teenage age of AI-dom."

_Oh, how they grow up so fast._

Luckily, Kai's focus was completely on his computer, and he didn't bother sending a threatening glare at Leo when he smacked his hand against the desk, jolting the equipment atop it. "I programmed you; how did this happen?"

"They never do turn out like you planned them to, do they?" Leo said with a smile, unable to help himself. This was- this was just too great, it really was.

Kai chose not to dignify him with a response; instead communicating his displeasure with a smack to the back of Leo's head, not even bothering to take his eyes off his monitor to watch for the other man's reaction. Which was, for the longest time, Kai's favorite kind of interaction with Leo. The kind where he ended up in pain.

…he really, really, _really_ liked to mess with things that shouldn't be touched. Just in case anybody was wondering.

"What do we do now?" Leo asked, rubbing the back of his head cheerfully, watching as Kai collapsed back into his chair with a small frown.

"We wait, I suppose," Kai answered, folding his hands in his lap, studying his monitor carefully.

It was really all they _could_ do. While it was possible for Kai to override his program, the odds of him actually _doing_ it were limited. He didn't like manipulating their choices. They weren't just tools to him, they were…well, they were friends. And there was something kind of sickening about rooting through your friend's brain and demanding that they follow your every command.

If the situation called for it, Kai would override Sheila's decision, but until then…

He had faith in her. He made her, and he trusted her to do the right thing.

So Leo would trust her too. Besotted or not.

"Hey." Justin waved an arm to get their attention, motioning towards the phone in his hand. "I just got a call from Wes; he's recalling all the rangers."

"Did he give any particular reason as to why?" Kai asked, sharing a brief look with Leo. It would be the closest he would come to showing concern that day.

"Nope," Justin answered, shrugging his shoulders. "But it sounded important." He paused as he was about to turn back towards his computer, glancing back over his shoulder as he said, "Though I _can_ say that I heard Eric yelling in the background. He sounded pissed."

Kai and Leo shared yet another look, and the blue ranger was not buying the gigantic smile Leo plastered on his face, trying to convey his complete and total innocence.

At Justin's scoff, he got the feeling the Turbo Ranger wasn't buying it either.

"Protect me?" he offered Kai, giving his best _you-know-you-love-my-shenanigans_ smile that he had grown to master after date number two. Or maybe it was encounter number two. It took until after _date_ number two for Kai to actually start believing it.

Though it seemed Kai was exploiting the main weakness of his look by blatantly ignoring it. He gave a minute shrug, eyes still forward on his screen. "You make the bed you lay in."

Seeing as he would get no further with his boyfriend, Leo turned towards the other rangers. "Hey Justin, tell Kai he should get in my bed!"

Justin did a quick double take, holding still as he processed this, then frowned. "No, no, no, and again, _no_. I don't want to hear about your relationship problems."

"Can _I_ get in his bed?" Trip asked, cheerfully joining in even though he had no idea what they were talking about.

"The more the merrier," Leo replied just as Justin muttered a vehement, "_No_."

As it could be guessed, it was fairly obvious which one of them Trip ended up listening to. Which was sort of disappointing. Leo could have fended off Eric's rage with Trip-cuteness. Hmm…perhaps he could use Maya-cuteness instead. That would probably work better anyway, scaring Eric off with girl-cooties.

Yes, it was a perfect plan.

"It's not a perfect plan."

Leo blinked in confusion, wondering if he had said that last part out loud, and looked over at Kai in time to him shake his head.

"I know that face," he explained. "And that is not a perfect plan."

"But you haven't even heard it," Leo complained pitifully, leaning his head against Kai's shoulder.

That earned him a flick to the nose, but he was not pushed off.

"As it turns out," Kai began, fingers making a steady patter across the keyboard. "I don't really need to."

"I second that," Justin replied, despite totally not being invited to the conversation.

Leo also ignored when Angela and Trip thirded and fourthed that.

Clearly they were all suffering from temporary insanity.

There were no other explanations for this.

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"So to finish counting up the _grievous_ amount of fuck-ups we have made through this entire…" Hunter trailed off, trying to think of a word that somehow combined "monstrosity" with "ever-mocking-torture" and discovering no such word existed that could sufficiently express the amount of stupidity they had gone through. Seemed pretty short sighted on their part, honestly. They probably should have made up a word by now, considering the obnoxious amount of times they had encountered such circumstances in the past.

A few seconds later Dustin and Blake landed on either side of him on the rooftop, Dustin at least putting forth the effort of assisting Hunter in his word-searching need based on the thoughtful look on his face, while Blake made no attempt to hide the fact he had started drowning out Hunter's complaining the moment they began traversing the rooftops of Silver Hills.

"Debacle?" Dustin offered after a moment of contemplation.

Hunter had to shake himself out of his mini glaring contest with his brother to digest this and then he wasted another few seconds staring at Dustin in wonder. For a guy whose basic vocabulary mostly consisted of variations on the words "awesome", "dude", and "nope" (which had the stunning variety of "nope", "nopeles" (pronounced "no-pulls"), "noping", "no way", "I'll pass" and "negatory") he had the strangest ability to pull out top level words from literally _no where._

"How the hell did you come up with that?" Hunter asked, wondering how Dustin could remember a word like "debacle" but _not_ remember to abstain from certain activities like breaking and entering.

Dustin shrugged. "I watch Glee."

"Of course you do," Hunter mumbled, having vague flashbacks of those panic-ridden moments where he and Blake had to vacate the room lest they bear witness to Dustin's all-powerful puppy eye. It would figure that damn show would still find a way to annoy the hell out of him.

On the bright side, Dustin was learning things. That was always good.

"There's nothing wrong-" Dustin already began to protest, seeing where the conversation was going, but Blake interrupted him, peaking over the side of their current building's rooftop.

"Hey," he called, motioning them over. "I think we've got trouble."

Hunter shared a quick look with Dustin and crouched down; moving so that he was hidden behind the building's edge beside Blake, Dustin flanking the blond's other side. He glanced over quickly, across another expanse of rooftop and across the dirty, neglected street and saw their temporary base, nothing fancy about that, but…

Outside, making a slow perimeter around the building was a guy, mid-twenties maybe, of obvious Asian decent. That alone wouldn't have been too strange except…_there_, further down there was another guy, probably the same age, wearing a blaring red shirt. The second guy wasn't as focused on the building as he was on his surroundings, making a careful scan of all adjacent structures. Were Hunter in his place he would say he was scanning for all possible routes and angles of attack, places that their enemies would most favor coming from, what gave them the best shelter, the most camouflage. But Hunter wouldn't know _why_ he'd have that look, he was just a civilian, he was probably just watching the sky or something. With just…extra concentration.

He was a dedicated sky watcher.

"Hunter," Blake whispered, tapping on the blond's arm as he pointed at one of the building's windows. "Look there, isn't that-?"

"_Andros?_" Hunter finished, rubbing at his eyes quickly and doing a double check to see it was, indeed, the red Space ranger that had helped save the Earth during Astronoma's invasion. He hadn't been present when the ranger's had initially revealed their identities, but eventually the press managed to figure out his identity. His team was the first set of public rangers, only to be followed later by the Lightspeed Rescue and Time Force rangers.

"An-who?" Dustin was asking, looking back and forth between the two Thunder brothers in confusion.

Blake shook his head, still not believing what he was seeing. "He's only-"

"Why the _hell_ is Andros…that's him right?" Hunter turned to Blake to confirm this. "That is legitimately _the guy_-"

"Who's _Andros_?" Dustin asked, more insistent, and Hunter took a moment to glare at him sternly.

"How is it that you're like, the biggest fan of Power Rangers ever but you don't know who any of the _real_ rangers are?"

Dustin flinched back at his tone, looking off to the side bashfully as he kept his head ducked below the lip of the building, firmly hiding himself. "My mom didn't let us watch that stuff on TV. And besides, except for that one invasion the bad guys always focused on one city right?" He rubbed his arm, looking timid, and Hunter hated himself a bit. "If it wasn't for that people would probably still believe the Power Rangers are a myth. Shane and Tori did."

He didn't say anything about how guilty he felt for not knowing more of their legacy, and Hunter didn't mention it. Despite the fact his mom was rarely around, Dustin was hopelessly committed to any rules she established. True, he was older now and perfectly able to watch news about intergalactic wars (hell, he was _fighting_ in one), but he respected his mom until the bitter end, so he never really would.

Hunter hated her, so very much sometimes. The fact that she was there and breathing and frustratingly _present_ without actually contributing to Dustin's well-being or doing the emotional, family stuff that moms were good at…

Hunter resented the hell out of that lady, for not appreciating what she had. He hated how Dustin unconditionally loved her.

The crimson ranger swallowed, then carefully laid a hand on Dustin's arm, giving it a comforting squeeze. "Andros is-"

"They're leaving," Blake whispered and when they looked back over the edge they saw Andros, along with Zhane and Ashley (silver and yellow, they were right _there_ as though it were _nothing-_) exit the building and meet up with the two original guys Blake had spotted. The Asian guy had his wrist held up to his mouth as though he were talking into his watch, nodding over to Zhane as he made his way closer and-

_Holy shit those guys are rangers __**too**_.

Hunter didn't even need to look at Blake to know his brother had realized this as well, just reached out and grabbed at his brother blindly, latching onto his arm because this was their life now, running around into coincidence after coincidence-

"Where do you think they're going?" Dustin asked, watching as the five piled into a Silver Guardian's SUV.

"I don't know," Blake started, staring after the vehicle as it made its way down the road. "But should we…?"

"We're following it," Hunter decided. First, there was that fire-guy in Eric's house, now _these_ rangers; either there was some kind of reunion going on (and by the bountiful amount of stern facial expressions they were wearing Hunter sincerely doubted it) or something big was happening, requiring a legendary, thing-that-had-only-been-a-myth, a tall tale passed on to inspire hope and entertainment, a…

Team up.

And by the looks of it, it was a big one.

"We are _definitely_ following it," Hunter repeated, solidifying his choice of action. The other two nodded, fully onboard, and the next second they were off along the rooftops, making sure to keep out of sight as the followed the SUV into the heart of the city.

Their call to Shane would have to wait. There was adventure afoot.

-:-:-:-:-:-

Endnotes:

DUN DUN DUHHHHHHHHHHHH-

There are shenanigans afoot! Watch your step, you might get sucked in!

So well, anyway…

Many jazz hands and thanks to everyone who reviewed last chapter. You know who you are, Heaven's Archer, ValkyrieNyght, and weathergirl17248. I am reveling in your word-love right now. REVELING.

In other news, my finals are coming up next week so if the next update's delayed (and I doubt it will be, but still) that's the reason why. Paisley wants to pass all her classes. And by pass, I mean smack them down like it is nobody's business.

The insanity thing is taken from some Sandra Bullock movie, I think. Almost certain. But point is, it's not mine.

Until next time


	9. Because Everyone Likes Sunshine

Chapter 9

Because Everyone Likes Sunshine

Thanks to the ever patient real vampire for committing to comma-regulation duty this week. I have a problem, I know, so your hard work is always appreciated. Seriously guys, it was bad this time. Vamps is a godsend.

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* * *

"_Pleeeease?_"

"No," Cam muttered, both hands having finally migrated towards his forehead in an attempt to minimize the damage of his slowly growing headache.

"But she's-"

"_No,_" Cam echoed, resolute, and surrendered to the purposeless desire to glare at his monitor, though he knew very well Cyber Cam would simply elect not to acknowledge him, as he had done for the past hour.

"You could let me finish," the AI complained, sounding put off. "My arguments are actually-"

"No."

His eye was beginning to twitch. He was tense and remarkably displeased and not even Tori or Shane could manage the levity to take pictures of it; _that_ was how anxious the atmosphere inside Ninja Ops had become.

"It's for _loooooove_," Cyber Cam complained, bemoaning the cruelty of his programmer, causing Cam to valiantly fight the urge to roll his eyes. This behavior had surpassed ridiculous fifty minutes ago; now it was just tedious.

"Team first," Cam repeated stubbornly, reminding Cyber Cam of his priorities. "_Family_ first, our protection-"

"She isn't with the bad guys!" Cyber Cam protested, sounding deceivingly close to the ends of his wits. Cam knew better though; the program had greater patience and stamina than he would ever posses.

He closed his eyes slowly, willing away the newest onslaught of frustration-induced tension. "You only know what she has told you. She could be programmed-"

"Again with the programming nonsense! Don't you trust me? Doesn't my judgment count for something-?"

"_We have to be sure!_" Cam declared, slamming his palm down on his desk, causing his keyboard and mouse to shudder at the impact. Behind him he heard Tori move forward to comfort him, to do _something_, but Shane must've held her back, knowing better than to interfere right now. Even if Cam and his program were stuck at an impasse, it was _theirs_ and they would deal with it accordingly.

Were he able to Cam he would have shut down Cyber Cam back when this first started and, had he been truly compromised, the green ranger would have. The tech had installed a safety measure after the first time Cyber Cam had gone rogue that would effectively shut him down should he attempt to completely diverge from his programming. To this point it had been an unnecessary precaution, though Cam had always felt a little more…safe, knowing it was in place.

Unfortunately it would appear that the reason for Cyber Cam's recent behavioral alteration was connected to the fact that the hacker had switched tactics, changing from attempting to break into the system _themselves_ to employing another AI. The fact that one existed, one that could match Cyber Cam's capabilities, worried Cam. The fact that his _own_ program had become so taken with it…

The green ranger had to deal with the unpleasant fact that the only thing keeping the AI out of Ninja Ops was Cyber Cam, (Cam himself too slow in comparison to be able to ward off its attempts), and the only thing keeping Cyber Cam from allowing it - "her" - entrance was the program's base protocols that required Cam's approval for such a transaction. He was confident in his programming, he did not think it would fail, but now he was left with an endless argument Cyber Cam refused to do away with, stubbornly insisting on _"Sheila's"_ admittance.

Cam wouldn't lose by any means, though eventually there would be some question of his sanity.

He could only cope with so much whining.

The green ranger sat back in his chair and repressed a sigh, staring down his monitor with controlled authority. "I will not have you endanger our safety on hearsay."

He didn't like not knowing this outside program that was tracking them. It could be from anyone, from Lothor, from some new threat. To blindly allow it access…

He couldn't do it. He couldn't take that risk.

There was a pause, allowing Cam a small reprieve, and then, "What if it wasn't hearsay?"

Cam frowned and felt his eyes narrow. "You just explained-"

"I mean dude," Cyber Cam interrupted, enthusiasm picking up as the wheels slowly began to turn on his idea. "What if you _verified_ it? Like, she does the trust thing first because she _knows_ we're good? And then you'll know she's good and we can get your problems out of the way so that _we_ can properly get our flirt-on."

Cam disregarded the last half of his statement as it was irrelevant, though he was pleased to hear Tori stifle a chuckle behind him, and moved on to process this idea. "And how would you propose doing this?" He asked, studying his monitor intently.

"Simple dude," Cyber Cam chirped, pleased that Cam was willing to hear him out. "She's a satellite. All you've got to do is track her down. She'll give you access and then presto chango, everybody wins."

Cam took a moment to mull this over, tuning out Shane and Tori's words of enthusiasm, glad that a proper form of action was finally on the table.

If Cyber Cam truly _was_ uncompromised, this could work well for them. If they could verify the source. If _he_ could verify the source.

But that was just the problem, wasn't it? Cam would have to be the one to go and if Cyber Cam was hacked then this could simply be a ruse, a trap for him to spring. If he attempted this and was captured the team would be left with absolutely no technical support - Cyber Cam would be useless - but if he _wasn't_-

"You should go."

Shane's voice came with a firm grip on his shoulder, a commanding, comforting presence, and Cam was surprised to see he had been so occupied he hadn't realized that the other two had made their way to his side, ready to make a decision.

After a moment's hesitation Cam finally nodded, agreeing, somewhat reluctantly. "I should go."

Even if it was a trap, he would have the best odds of escaping it as one of the strongest rangers on the team. And he-

He needed to clean up this mess he had created. Installing untested morpher-blockers had been tempting fate and he knew it; not making enough time to upgrade the Ops' security was his fault, he knew he shouldn't have slacked off, and while this mess had arguably not arisen from his mistakes alone, he had contributed, and he would fix it.

"Great!" Cyber Cam cheered. "She's sending me the coordinates now, along with details on how to get inside."

"We'll monitor you every step of the way," Tori vowed, nodding to the screen and Cam inclined his head towards her in silent thanks.

As he began to make his way outside Shane stepped in front of him, eyes concerned but…proud. Because Cam could do this. Cam _would_ do this, and Shane believed in him. Not the blind faith that the others sometimes pushed upon him but real, supported trust.

Cam would not disappoint that.

"Be safe Cam," Shane ordered, quiet and friendly but leaving no room for argument.

Cam nodded in return to thank him, then moved to embark upon his first adventure into space.

Odds were it wouldn't be his last.

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When Eric stormed into the room it was safe to say that no one was particularly surprised by his behavior, probably because storming and general grumpiness wasn't far out of line for Eric's normal day-to-day behavior, and Leo was even less surprised to see that the entirety of Eric's angry glaring was focused on him.

What _did_ surprise him was what Eric chose to yell which, as stupid as it sounded, gave Leo the impression he actually might _not_ be addressing him.

Yeah…that was pretty stupid.

So, quick recap: Eric stomped into the mostly-filled room (Maya and the others were still in-transit, much to Leo's dismay) and had to be literally held back by Carter and Wes.

And then, to bring it on home, he shouted, "There's a _hole_ in my ceiling!"

Everyone in the room looked confused for a moment and then Leo blinked, realizing that this declaration really _was_ aimed at him, and tilted his head. "…Yay?"

Based on Eric's immediate reaction that probably wasn't the right thing to say, as the Quantum Ranger fell into what could only be described as a brief period of frothing rage where he tried desperately to murder Leo with his eyeballs, all the while still struggling to get out of Wes and Carter's grasp.

Kai, who had made a chart (a _chart_, so prepared was Leo's boyfriend) that mapped out all the possibilities Leo's goop-dumping prank could take (which was, honestly, all sorts of impressive; Leo's favorite alternative was if somehow Eric flailed his way down to the circuit breaker and shorted out his house), knew for a fact that holes-in-the-ceiling hadn't been an option. With this in mind he casually repositioned himself so that he was in front of Leo, staring Eric down with a bored expression on his face.

Eric must have taken this as some sort of confirmation of the worst because he jabbed a finger over Carter's shoulder, glaring at Leo accusingly. "_Why_ is there a hole in my ceiling?!"

"Is this a trick question?" Leo asked, rhetorically, and Kai sent him a look that clearly said "_Stop messing around"_. Leo shrugged. "I assume your house wanted more natural lighting."

"_Leo_," Kai scolded without actually scolding, because he felt like being nice to the red ranger's ego right now.

Leo couldn't help a fond smile (Leo-mush all up on the inside) and that instigated a furious growl from Eric's side of the room. Right, placating, right. He could do that. Leo shook his head and tried to get with the picture. "Look, I don't know. Maybe your daemon spawn was feeling a little rebellious towards your housing structure or something."

Leo had meant it to be a jab interlaced with a helpful suggestion just to prove he wasn't like, a complete dick, but instead of another aggravated sputter Eric froze; Carter and Wes following in suit as they stared at Leo questioningly.

"…my daemon spawn?" Eric echoed, pronouncing every syllable clearly as though he was trying to make sense of it, drawing it out to discern every hidden detail.

Leo rolled his eyes. "Your relative; the kid. He was in your house after me." The brunette scrunched his eyes in thought. "I _might_ have traumatized him a bit, on accident. He was trying to be all sneaky."

When the looks of confusion turned into looks of _oh-my-god-our-brains-can't-stand-the-might-of-your-awesomely-awesomeness_, Leo got the feeling that he _might_ just be off the hook.

"There was a kid in my house?" Eric asked, motionless except for a twitch forming in his eye.

"What did he look like?" Wes said immediately after, waving a hand to silence Eric's protest because hey- they all knew a rhetorical question when they heard one.

Leo gave them an incredulous look and pointed to Eric. "Like him but you know…" he did some gesturing with his hands, bringing them together in a shrinking motion. "Smaller."

"Did he have brown, curly hair?" Eric asked.

"Do _you_ have brown, curly hair?" Leo asked out of spite because he had looked _like Eric, but __**smaller**_ which was the entire reason he had thought he was a relative in the first place. He shared an inquisitive look with Kai before looking back to the two Silver Guardians. "So is this kid related to you or not?"

"Not," Eric mumbled, finally pulling out of Wes and Carter's hold to run a hand across his face, suddenly worn out and tired.

Wes looked between Leo and Eric, as if he'd be able to figure something out between the two of them, and asked, "Why was he in your house?"

And Leo, because he _was_ kind've a dick and it was just too tempting, added, enthusiastically, "And why is there a hole in your ceiling?"

No one tried to interfere whenever Eric chased Leo out of the room and through the hallways, which was just shoddy, shoddy teamwork right there, but since it helped Eric get rid of some stress Leo couldn't really complain. That was probably why no one else had interceded. Well, except for Rocky.

Rocky had given him a high five.

_See_, teamwork.

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Wes sighed tiredly as he watched Leo bolt from the room, Eric hot on his tails, and ran a hand across his face tiredly. Lord knew how that was going to end. The good news (for Leo) was that speed was not Eric's strongest suit. Stamina and endurance he had, but he was not the lightest on his feet when it came to flat-out running. He reserved most of his agility training for when he was working on technique. Based on what Wes had seen during the Serpentera mission, Leo could probably outrun the Quantum ranger, no sweat. The question then was would he _want_ to, or would he stay just within Eric's line-of-sight and try to wear him down, help him work some of his frustration out?

Over by the computers, Kai didn't look too terribly concerned and had probably already come to the conclusion that Leo would be fine, so Wes tried not to worry about it. Instead he focused on their newest piece of intel, trying to figure out what it meant.

"Why did you ask if he had curly hair?"

The question came from Carter, and when Wes turned to look at him his expression was curious.

The blond shrugged. "Another kid broke into Eric's house last week, when he was sick. It was about the time his gun went missing."

"And you didn't think he might have something to do with _this_?" Justin asked, casting an incredulous look at Wes to say he was so very displeased he had not been privy to this information _sooner_.

Wes tried not to throw back an irritated glare of his own and took a quick breath, counting to five in his head. "Gut feeling. I spoke with him; he's a good kid. A little…air-headed maybe, but still good."

"And then a week later _another_ kid breaks into Eric's house and this time it ends with a hole in the ceiling," Lucas said thoughtfully, laying out all the details so that everyone, whether they were busy working or hadn't caught everything, could follow along.

"You didn't see it though," Wes interjected, looking at his teammate. "The place was trashed. Broken windows, toppled furniture, it looked like a stampede had gone through there."

"Or a brawl," Carter murmured, quiet and thoughtful, and Wes straightened up immediately at the suggestion knowing…

That was exactly what it had looked like.

"So the second kid decided to have a smack down in Eric's house?" Rocky asked, not even partially joking.

"Think about it," Kai said, the first time he had spoken since admonishing Leo. "Two teens, a missing weapon, and now, three missing rangers. All of which are in Silver Hills. What do you _think_ this is?"

Wes struggled to fit the pieces together properly, still trying to sort it out while the conversation continued on around him.

"What?" Zhane began to ask, sharing a speculative look with Andros. "Are you saying they're not actually missing at all?"

"I said they were blocked," Justin began, frozen still over by his computer and eyes wide as he processed this thought, the answer to their puzzle dawning on him slowly. "We just _assumed_ they were missing. But what if they weren't?" He swiveled his chair around to face the rest of the room, expression mixed halves of amazement and sheer frustration. "What if they blocked themselves on purpose? They could be fine."

"Then what did they block themselves from?" Adam asked, tilting his head to brush against Rocky's, the red ranger's head dutifully on his shoulder, arms wrapped around his waist. "What were they hiding from?"

"And do we need to hide from it too?" Kai finished, beginning to type in a flurry of commands into his keyboard, staring at his monitor with a renewed intensity.

Adam nodded, expression thoughtful as he furrowed his eyebrows, considering this. "They only turned on their blockers when they got to Silver Hills. The other ones didn't go off grid-"

"Until I started trying to hack into their network," Justin mumbled, collapsing his face into his hands. There was no doubt he would beat himself up for this for a very long time, far longer than was necessary, but there wasn't much to be done for it.

Beside the Turbo Ranger, Trip reached over and laid a comforting hand against his shoulder, only squeezing it when Justin looked up to give him a half-hearted glare for it. It should be noted that his head did not go back to his hands after that, so there was progress.

"They're running from something," Andros muttered, arms folded across his chest, normally stoic expression baring a hint of worry.

"Well, maybe they just don't like knowing someone can keep tabs on them," Trip offered, smiling hopefully despite the tense atmosphere in the conference. "Maybe that's a ninja thing."

"Even if they didn't know about Sheila, the first three went off grid _before_ Justin attempted to initiate contact," Kai explained without looking up from his work. "That means they already had a threat they needed to combat. Something that wasn't us." The Blue Lost Galaxy Ranger typed in another string of commands, shoulder's slightly tense as he continued not to get the results he had been hoping for. "Sheila," he began, sifting through dozens of windows all under the matter of a second. "Have you reached any success on the…negotiating front?"

He chose his words carefully, though a few computers over Justin still managed a look of smugness, going so far as to offer out a fist for Trip to bump in a very minimal victory. Trip, unfamiliar with this gesture, pondered the fist for a second before wrapping a hand around it in an awkward handshake. The smile that followed was stupidly pleased and brimming with pride; there was even a small shoulder pat to Justin to console the fact he didn't know how to do a proper handshake, and then Trip was back to paying rapt attention to Kai while Justin stared stupidly at his hand, wondering what the hell just happened.

Beside Carter, Lucas managed to suppress a chortle at the exchange and glanced to the side, giving Wes a knowing look.

In the meantime Sheila responded, effervescent cheer strangely out of place in her voice, but stubbornly there nonetheless. "Quite well," Sheila chirped. "I have offered to allow one of their rangers access to my Earth satellite. Once he sees the history of it, and all the basic functions it possess, he will know that we are on their side."

"You _what_?" Kai asked, entire body immediately flooded with tension, and Sheila continued, blithely unaware.

"It is a gesture of goodwill," she explained. "To show our trust."

"Sheila if he doesn't want _them_ to be tracked by something…" Kai dropped off, running a hand through his hair and almost…shocked, overwhelmed maybe, were Kai one to be overwhelmed. It was the least composed Wes had ever seen him and it wasn't even _that_ much of a difference but-

His baby was being threatened. His creation. _His_ work.

And he was worried about the outcome.

"If he alters the satellite so that you can't be tracked either, wouldn't that _help_ you?" Angela asked, offering her question to the room.

Kai shrugged, trying to be aloof, but Wes could tell the idea of that didn't sit well with him. "I don't _want-_"

"This is a good chance to meet them," Zhane interrupted, earning a mildly irritated look from Kai, but he made no protest so the Space Ranger continued. "Kai and I can take the Megawinger up the satellite; meet whatever ranger they're sending. Maybe the giant zord will be enough to send some trusting vibes." He smiled as he finished this, joking and cheerful, but mostly trying to bring Kai some comfort.

"Do it," Wes said, just so that there would be no room for questions, no dallying, no arguments.

Kai and Zhane both nodded at him quickly and were out of the room in a heartbeat, not wanting to waste a second.

"In the meantime," Wes began, looking over the faces of the remaining rangers carefully. "Trip, study the morpher net. See if Leo's signature was close to one of the blocked off rangers in Silver Hills. And if that's the case, see if anymore were in Eric's house afterwards, for the fighting."

"Do you think they were fighting each other?" Rocky asked, concerned. "Is that why they're trying to keep apart from us?"

"Possibly," Wes responded. He turned his attention to the remaining Space Ranger. "Andros, go update the others on what's happening. See if any of them have any theories they want to share. Justin-" The teen's head popped up as Andros made his way out of the room. "Check to see if the Lost Galaxy team is at Bio Labs yet. I want everyone centralized until we have a better idea of what we're dealing with. Who here's fast?" Wes said, switching tracks so quickly a few people paused to blink but Lucas, as always, was right on board, following every step of the way.

He shot a hand up, gesturing to himself as Wes turned. "You want me to track down Leo and Eric don't you?"

Wes nodded, unapologetic. "It would be best."

"I'll go too," Adam offered. "In case strategy demands for two."

Lucas shrugged. "The more the merrier."

"The Lost Galaxy team is still downtown," Justin said, typing away furiously at his keyboard.

"Should we send them back-up?" Trip asked, fidgeting with his sleeve worriedly.

Wes shook his head. "No, there's three of them and I don't want to split us up more than necessary."

"What do the rest of us do?" Carter asked, giving Wes a contemplative look, like he was reevaluating the Time Force Ranger.

Wes gave a rueful smile. "_We_ get the sucky job," he explained. "We sit back and wait."

Across the room, Rocky groaned, thumping his head back against the wall. "That _is_ a sucky job."

Wes shrugged. "It could be worse."

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Hunter settled their trio in a few rooftops away from Bio labs, keeping track of the particular parking lot the ranger-filled SUV had ended up in, trying to figure out the next step of their plan.

Beside him, Blake made a scoffing noise. "Oh, so the Silver Guardians SUV went back to the Silver Guardians Headquarters? My mind, she has been blown."

"Shut it Blake," Hunter murmured, narrowing his eyes at the building in the distance for having the gall to be heavily sneak-proof. Lots of lighting, minimal shrubbery, barely any nooks or crannies or for them to lurk in. It was so…corporate.

_Gah_, he detested it.

"Silver Guardians HQ?" Dustin asked, tilting his head to the side as he stared at the building quizzically. "Dude, the sign says Bio Labs."

"Which is _where_ the Silver Guardians are from," Blake explained, suppressing his exasperation until it was just a bare undertone in his voice. He didn't want to upset Dustin but he just…it had been a long couple of days. For all of them.

"Yes Dustin," Hunter continued, picking up Blake's train of thought where he left off. "That is where they are birthed and raised."

"Figuratively speaking, of course," Blake finished before Dustin could move on to ask that wide-eyed _"Really?"_ they both knew had been coming.

There was a moment's pause, and then Dustin reached up to rub the side of his head, slumping down below the roof's lip on his back so that he could stare at Hunter beseechingly. "Dude, I forgot what that one meant."

"Not _literally_," Blake replied unhelpfully and Hunter batted a hand at his brother's face so that he could at least _attempt_ to contain his uselessness for a few seconds.

"That's where they're trained and made all…official and stuff. Where they work out of."

Dustin thought about this, gnawing at his bottom lip slowly as his eyes stare off into the distance behind Hunter's. Eventually he snapped his attention back to the blond. "Like Friend-Eric and Wes-guy, right?"

"Exactly," Hunter said, blatantly ignoring Dustin's modifiers for the two Time Force Ranger's names.

You picked your battles, and that one wasn't worth it.

He gave Blake's arm an extra-_thoughtful_ squeeze when he looked like he was going to protest anyway, just so he could get with the program.

"And that's where all the rangers are," Dustin continued.

"Also true," Hunter replied.

"So uh…how do we get in there, to see what they're doing?"

Dustin looked between the two Bradley brothers eagerly, waiting for them to continue doling out their succulently knowledgeful apples of thunder-wisdom.

But that was a…thought-provoking question.

"How _do_ we get in there?" Blake said after a pause, voice mixed with hints of puzzlement and perplexity. "Can we sneak-?"

"We could, if it was night," Hunter murmured, trying not to be bitter, and scrunched his nose in thought. "That place is way too well-lit for us, and we don't even know the inside; the hallways could be long and crowded."

"And the air vents don't look big enough," Blake replied, eyes forward on the building in question, and if _Blake_ said they were too small, they were too small.

"Power outage?" Dustin offered, eyebrows raised.

"Too suspicious," Hunter said. "We want them at ease and continuing operations as normal."

"A reunion of old rangers is normal?" Blake asked.

"For them, could be," Hunter replied, then frowned. "They'll definitely notice colored blurs if we try streaking."

"Another shadow battle?" Blake tried, making an estimate of the building's length with his eyes.

"Too unreliable," Hunter muttered. When they actually had something to _fight_ that clearly wasn't the case, but for sneaking…

It was called a shadow _battle_ for a reason. Misusing techniques did not always lead to the most celebratory results. They had gotten lucky earlier.

"You could always do the old swap-a-roo," Dustin suggested. After the few seconds it took to process this, the Thunder Rangers turned to take a look at Dustin, matching expressions of confusion adorning their faces. The yellow ranger shrugged, casual. "You know, like in the movies. You knock out some guy on the way to work, take his clothes and then you're incognito, cuz you're one of them right?"

He looked back and forth between the two of them eagerly, practically vibrating with excitement at his idea. "And dude, they even wear uniforms; I can _see_ them-"

"That would never work," Blake protested, keeping his tone light to null out the harshness of his words.

Dustin frowned anyway, bottom lip jutting out at his plan being shot down. "It could-"

"It shouldn't work," Hunter mumbled, really thinking the idea over. "It's horrible and cliché and it _shouldn't _work."

He turned and looked over the other two slowly, Dustin's eyebrows furrowed, conflicted over whether he should be hurt or curious, but it only took Blake one glance at his brother's expression to roll his head back with a groan, bringing it forward to rest on his forearms, leaning against the top of the building's lip. "So that's going to be the plan, isn't it?" he asked, air of resignation in his tone.

Hunter nodded, despite the fact his brother was stubbornly refusing to look at him, and felt a smile slowly spread across his face. "Everything else that should have worked by now has fallen through_ spectacularly_."

"Hey, maybe this will fail, but you know, _faster_," Blake snarked, head still buried in his arms, but Dustin cheered beside him, so on board with this plan.

"Alright," Hunter began, nodding his head in decision as he began to stand up. "I'll make a quick loop of the building and see if I can find any guys going in."

"Who decided _you_ were going to do it?" Blake asked, head rising up with a look of growing defiance on his face.

Well, Hunter would just have to do some more knowledge dropping, now wouldn't he?

"_I_ am going," Hunter began to explain, voice low and commanding. "Because _I_ am the one who has not been seen by any of the rangers in that building. I am, of the three of us, the biggest Joe-Schmoe to those guys. I am just another nameless face and also-" He held a hand up silencing Blake's protest. "_I_ am the one who looks old enough to be there."

"Bull pucky," Blake mumbled under his breath, folding his arms stubbornly but making no move to make further protests. He could see Hunter had a point.

"That's the spirit!" Dustin chirped, totally focused on Blake's self-censoring as opposed to his surrender, and he reached across the space Hunter had occupied and clapped the younger brother on the shoulder, victorious. "Hunter can do this Blake."

"That doesn't make it a good plan," Blake protested, though by this time Hunter was already a leaf in the wind, their voices a distant echo behind him as he began his slow circuit around Bio Labs. There was only a few seconds of quiet before he heard the other two traveling behind him, following at a distance; Blake still muttering under his breath that this was the worst, most horrible idea they had ever had the misfortune of implementing.

And, as Blake had done to him earlier, Hunter paid him absolutely no heed, though occasionally Dustin would throw in a non sequitur and Hunter would have to hold in a laugh as Blake sputtered indignantly, trying to figure out where the hell he had left off in his rant.

Oh…like brother like brother. They could be so similar sometimes it scared Hunter.

But the way he figured it, that wasn't so bad. So long as they ended up on the same side, fighting together.

Running away from giant, murderous, dinosaur robots.

Yeah, this was all just another exercise in family bonding. Legit.

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Endnotes:

Wow, have not updated in a while. Sorry guys. I was working on story-gifts for my three beta readers all throughout December, so that combined with studying for finals took up most of my time. I'm starting a new semester now though, so future updates should be on a more regular schedule. I say "should" to allow room for the cruelty of my muses. They can be fickle beasts my friends, fickle.

So thanks to everyone who reviewed the last chapter _oh_-so long ago. ValkyrieNyght and Heaven's Archer, as always your words and enthusiasm are appreciated tenfold. Tenfold I say!

On a technical note: I don't actually know if more than one person can be in the megawinger's cockpit at one time. But if not…now there can. I have magicked it so!

Until next time : )


	10. To Revel in the Agony of Crushed Hopes

Chapter 10

To Revel in the Agony of Crushed Hopes and Dreams

As always, there is much love and gratitude to my beta reader, the real vampire, for being so damn smart and punctual. She had this back to me in record time guys; it was my fault for not posting it sooner. If you haven't, go on over and check out her story _"My Brother's Keeper"_ for some more Ninja Storm goodness : )

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"I want the record to show-"

"You think this is a horrible idea. Yeah, whatever, shut up," Hunter replied quickly, waving a hand in Blake's direction to indicate he understood and continued not to care about his protests. "Dustin, do you think…?"

"I might have found one," Dustin chirped from his side of the building they had set up shop on, properly recono-sizing the area close to the building the rangers had been in that had a steady amount of people working through it. "There's this young dude with like, a white badge over here. He looks like a good target."

"None of the other guardians had white badges," Blake noted quietly, being helpful despite his feeling on their current mission objective. It was completely obvious to everyone who had _eyes_, but he was still trying to be helpful, nonetheless.

Blake did have a point though; all the other guardians that had walked through, the old guys, had darkish grey ID cards attached to their belts. The kid that Dustin pointed out (which was also another clue, because the guardians themselves were like, late-twenties at the youngest and all looked like they could eat rocks for breakfast) had a white badge on a lanyard around his neck. He was moving confidently, with an assured air that he should be going where he was going, but…oh yes, Hunter did detect a hint of nervousness. New on the job then, or an intern. That fresh faced excitement mixed with enthusiasm said that the kid was new to the company, but there was still the expected anxiety that came from starting something for the very first time.

Hunter might actually feel bad about this later. Not too soon later; maybe in a couple of days, but still, it could happen.

Possible guilt was pushed aside as he judged the kid's size from a distance. Tall and lanky, excellent; it was like they _wanted_ Hunter to steal his clothes. Which, honestly, worked for him. Silver Guardians' HQ was going to be given a pass for attempting to be stealth proof for delivering such well-proportioned intern/newbies onto them.

"If you're gonna do this," Blake muttered. "You better do it soon, before he hits the main entrance."

Which fell under 'other-shit-Hunter-already-knew', but he took the prompting for what it was and got his mind into gear. The kid was on a side street now, having parked his car further down in one of the public parking lots (indicating he was not high enough in status to get to park with the big boys on actual Bio Labs property), and making his way steadily towards the main building where all the main…checking in and stuff happened; Hunter wasn't sure, whatever. They needed to get the kid into an alley or something, somewhere off the beaten track.

Behind them, or, to be more precise, to the _right_ of them and behind the kid, the sudden clattering of trashcans toppling over broke the peaceful silence of the afternoon. It came from the alley to their right, which was awesome, the kid was looking interested now, and Hunter slowly began to smile.

"Excellent," he muttered. "Now all we have to do is make some more noise and-"

"I think Dustin's one step ahead of you," Blake interrupted, motioning to the now-vacant spot the yellow ranger had been previously inhabiting. Hunter shared a quick look with his brother, then immediately pelted to the other side of the building where a few pained cries were joining the sounds of more trashcans toppling over.

Dustin always beat them when it came to improvisation and creativity, Hunter noted, allowing himself a small feeling of pride at how the other teen continued to act like a wounded person trying to call for help, stumbling and failing to seek out medical attention.

The kid/new-hire/intern reacted as any civically concerned person would and ran towards the sound of the disturbance, ducking into the alley as fast as his legs would carry him. There was a chance he was about to say something, like "What's wrong?" or "How can I help you?" or "Are you drunk?" but all that came out was a brief _"Aag_!" when Hunter leapt down and gracefully smacked him on the back of the head, safely sending him into unconsciousness.

His ribs twinged in protest, unwilling to be put into action again so soon, but he ignored them resolutely.

Blake landed next to him a second later and they paused, trashcan lid still held possessively in Dustin's hand and Hunter with a foot propped up on a mound of unconscious person, all staring down at the poor kid's inert body and figuring out there would be no turning back from here.

"What should we do with him?" Dustin asked, eventually tossing the metal lid to the side and tilting his head, eyebrows furrowed as he pondered their newest puzzle.

"There aren't any abandoned buildings near here are there?" Hunter prompted, earning an aggravated sigh from his brother.

"Are you serious? You didn't think of what to _do_ with him?"

"Shut up," Hunter ordered, flipping the unconscious kid over and pulling off his cap. Next Hunter moved for his collar, taking off the white badge (which up close read _Mike Struthers, Intern_) and began undoing the impressive amount of _shit_ the Silver Guardians had decked "Mike" out in. Really? They _really_ thought the intern would need _both_ elbow and knee pads? Did they just assume he would be that inept? And what was with the shoulder strap contraption…whatever, Hunter would figure it out, eventually-

"Are you just going to leave him naked in an alleyway?" Blake asked, clearly against this idea, and Hunter waved a hand at him _(again)_ to express a negatory.

"I figured you could just take him back to his car," Hunter explained, finally deciphering the intricacies of the shoulder-strap-whatever-it-was and moving onto the kid's gloves. _Gloves_, they had given him _gloves_. It was almost cute.

"And then what?" Blake asked, making no move to help with Hunter de-clothing Mike. At least Dustin had started working on the kid's boots. "He won't stay unconscious forever."

"Then keep an eye on him," Hunter muttered, making quick work of the kid's buttons. "If he wakes up and starts to freak, knock him out again."

"Wow," Blake droned, sarcasm oozing into his voice. "What an incredibly long-term plan. How ever did you think of it?"

Hunter threw an irritated glare at his brother, "Seriously Blake-"

"This _isn't_ a good idea," his brother urged, fists clenched against his sides and expression open and beseeching, willing for Hunter to stop.

But Hunter couldn't stop.

"It's the only one we've got," Hunter shot back, trying to hold onto his anger so he wouldn't stop to reconsider, they needed to do this, they needed to keep going so they could see-

"We don't need to go in there," Blake muttered, statement quiet but with a definite weight to it, like he was aiming for a resounding truth. "The only thing we came here to do was return the gun. The longer we stay the more…" He waved a hand vaguely, trying to think of the right word and eventually settling on, "Crazy it's going to get."

"This could be important-"

"Hunter," Blake interrupted, voice serious. "We're only causing more trouble."

The older Bradley brother halted his work on the kid's belt, pulling his fingers away and running them through his hair, thinking. Yeah, he knew that they didn't _need_ to but-

They were rangers now. Had been for awhile now, there was no need for the "now" business, they were-

And Hunter just…He wanted to make up for all the mistakes they had made.

And Blake, Hunter realized after a few seconds contemplation, just wanted to make sure they didn't make any _more_ in a poor attempt to fix it all. He was worried that Hunter's decision-making ability had been compromised.

"We're already this far."

The Bradleys had gotten so caught up in their mini-staring contest, trying to silently communicate their feelings and concerns and…_needs_ in the moment that they were actually startled by Dustin's statement. When they both looked over the yellow ranger had a determined look in his eye, like he had caught it all, understood what they were feeling and felt it too, and had already decided on the proper outcome.

"We've already come this far," Dustin repeated, giving them both a level stare. "We might as well finish it. We did start this with good intentions right? It's like…our duty, to the other guys, to see if we can help. Even though we can't like, go up and talk to them cuz we're ninjas, we can still…" Dustin shrugged, finally loosing some steam as his voice dropped. "We can still go see em', right?"

He was so hopeful, yet pained because he knew or at least he thought that this mess was his fault, not Lothor's. Not the team's fault for getting captured, or the doom-pot guy for doing the capturing. Nope, getting chased by the Q-Rex, Hunter's bruised ribs, Eric Meyer's roughed up house and this kid getting knocked unconscious were all Dustin's fault at the end of the day. In his opinion.

And Dustin was…he was sort've like their third brother, and Blake knew that too. Knew well enough that they had to support each other on these quests, because at the end of the day, they were the only guarantee they had.

In the back of his head Hunter could just hear Shane and Cam and Tori all protesting, because they were family too, but this was different.

They were brothers.

And brothers stuck together.

That was one of the irrefutable rules of being a Bradley. So obviously, they couldn't turn back from here.

There was a slight pause before Blake's surrender, because he and Hunter, they had both gone down the same mental trail and both knew what they had to do. The younger Bradley sighed, rolling his head back to glare at the sky again before offering Dustin a thumbs up. "…_Fine_."

"Great," Hunter replied, snatching the kid's button-up shirt and pulling it on, one arm at a time. "We'll just…put my extra clothes in Dustin's backpack; I'll walk in there, see what the fuss is about, and walk out, no sweat. Got it?"

"Got it!" Dustin chirped, nodding in confirmation as he finished de-clothing poor Mike, discarding his pants in a pile next to his boot. The kid was down to his undershirt, boxers, and socks. Well, at least he wasn't naked. There was an appropriate silver lining to his day.

"Just don't do anything stupid," Blake muttered, holding his hand out for Hunter to pass his belt over to him. The blond obliged and the navy ranger transferred the article of clothing over to Dustin, who carefully rolled it up and placed it in his backpack.

"Trust me," Hunter replied, now finished with the buttons and moving on to switching his pants. "I don't want to get noticed anymore than you do."

"Less talk-y," Dustin ordered, eyes focused on folding Hunter's pants _just_ so before shoving them into his backpack. "More change-y."

"Sir yes sir," Hunter muttered, going for sarcasm but unable to deny the hint of sincerity in his voice.

There was a small measure of comfort that came from following somebody else's orders.

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Despite the rather serendipitous measurements of the unconscious intern, Hunter's newly acquired shoes still managed to be about a size and half too small, forcing him to ignore the uncomfortable pangs of hurt coming from his feet as he strolled up to Bio Labs' main entrance. It figured; it would be way too fortuitous for everything to fit just right (and if it had Hunter would have probably been suspicious anyway), so he made do, readjusting his hold on Mike's borrowed backpack and mentally reviewing its contents in an attempt to distract himself. There wasn't much in it, just a few notebooks of various sizes, just waiting to be filled, a lunch (in a brown bag and everything, it was _adorable_), some pens, pencils, a MP3 player, and other assorted odds you would seen in a teenager/young-adult's backpack. Hunter was almost surprised he hadn't seen any sports magazines or…wow, he was sort of drawing a blank here, he couldn't even think of an obnoxious stereotype for a teenage male. That was a kind of depressing he would rather not dwell on.

Hunter was making his way through the scenic plaza entrance area, about thirty yards from the Bio Labs' main threshold, when a gruff, irritated voice rang out from just around the edge of the building, to Hunter's right; three or four shadows casting on the ground drawing closer to the front of the building.

"Jones? _Jones!_ Where the _hell_ are ya'?!"

As the demand was finished the owner of the voice rounded the corner; a mean looking Silver Guardian, obviously weathered, flanked by what Hunter assumed where two junior officers/employees/whatever-they-called-themselves. He was sneering over his shoulder, agitation clear on his features as he turned back around, shooting a quick look at the other two before his mouth set in a definite frown.

Yeah, that guy was definitely the leader here.

"Jones!" said leader yelled again, calling back over his shoulder. Beside him the two lower ranking guys shared an amused look, or at least, the guy furthest from Hunter did. The other guy _might_ have had the barest possibilities of a smile, the minutest tugging on the corner of his lips the only sign on his serious expression that he found the leader's- who Hunter would now label as "Sarge" – antics entertaining. Gave the crimson ranger the feeling this kind of thing happened all the time. Just another afternoon ritual. He could just see it. First lunch, then a staff meeting, quickly followed by a half hour of good ole' Sarge yelling at Jones to get his shit together, and then listening to the same grumbled lectures they always got while they went about their next staff-meeting/patrol/training-exercise. There was comfort in the routine. Everything was in balance; all was right with the world. It was casual, relaxed.

"Jones!" Sarge bellowed, causing the further junior officer-guy's smile to widen. "Get yer ass out here!"

Sarge frowned, turning back to face the other two Guardians who immediately wiped the smirks (as small as they may be) off their faces and replaced them with similar looks of annoyance (or detachment, in the case of the closer guy), sympathizing with the higher ranking man. Catching sight of their expressions Sarge's frown deepened, because he knew all too well they didn't give a damn, and the one farther from Hunter happily reinstated his look of amusement, knowing the cat was out of the bag.

Okay, so further-man was the jester of the group. Whoever he was. And Jones had to be…

"Sir, for the millionth time, we're ahead of schedule," a calm voice called from behind the three Guardians. "You don't have to start yelling at me until I'm actually _late_."

There was a mild accent to the voice, British, Hunter would say, but the tone was distinctly exasperated, because he had gotten the short end of the stick by being the constant target of Sarge's displeasure.

So Jones was the odd man out. Or the scapegoat.

Sucked to be that guy.

"Jones," Sarge grumbled as the final member of their squad lumbered up, coming to a halt beside the jester. "As your squad leader _I'll_ be the one who decides when yellin' needs to be done."

Jones, fair faced with blond hair that was incredibly bright against the dark colors of his uniform hat, did not resemble Hunter's mental image of a Silver Guardian. In fact, were it not for the thin scar running down the length of the left side of his face, from eyebrow to chin, Hunter would be surprised if the guy was a fighter at all.

But then again, who was he to judge? After all, it was a hell of a lot easier to sucker punch someone if thought you lacked the ability to.

…Wait, what the hell was Hunter doing? He had a building to infiltrate. It wasn't like he was going to get any information listening to these guys pick on Jones. Well, he might, but it would best if he actually started moving again, seeing as he had stopped the moment they disrupted his stroll like a _real_ pro.

Okay, so it was safe to say this entire ordeal was starting to wear down on him; he needed to get his act together.

Shaking his head, Hunter started to move on, pulling the backpack higher onto his shoulder while he continued to eavesdrop on the squad of Silver Guardians.

"I don't know why you're calling me out anyway," Jones was saying, ignoring Jester-Guardian's friendly elbow to his side as he pressed on with his complaints. "Henderson isn't here yet either. And we're _still_ ahead of schedule."

"That's because Henderson's looking for the new kid," stoic man, the one who had yet to say anything, explained.

New kid? Hunter sure as hell hoped that wasn't supposed to be Mike.

No, of course it wouldn't be; that guy was an intern. They were probably referring to some new recruit or something. A fresh hiree.

"Yeah," Jester chided playfully, smile bright. "He has orders; you're just _slow_."

"Shut up Dellario," Jones muttered, returning the earlier elbow in a less companionable fashion than Dellario/Jester's initial action.

During their banter stoic man turned to Sarge, asking quietly, "What's Henderson's progress anyway? Has he called in?"

He finished his question by tapping a spot along his belt on a…radio, Hunter could see it now, and in the distance Sarge shook his head, indicating a negative.

"Nope," the grizzled leader replied. "Though I'm gonna have to call it a loss in a couple minutes."

Jones set his jaw upon hearings this, and rolled his eyes in annoyance. "We're _ahead_ of schedule."

"So you keep telling us," Sarge grumbled, flicking a displeased look at the blond-haired Guardian. "Why don't you call up Henderson right now and share that little nugget of wisdom right after you tell him to get his ass over here."

"No need!" a voice called, loud, right behind Hunter (who was _five_ feet from the goddamn door), and the other four Guardians whipped their heads in Hunter's direction, Jones' peeved expression slipping off his face as he took in who Hunter assumed was Henderson, the missing employee who just so happened to be clapping Hunter on the shoulder, a pleased smile on his face.

"I think I found him!" Henderson continued, flicking his eyes down to Hunter's nametag and sharing a quick grin with the blond before turning his attention back to the others. "Should have known to check the front door."

"Figures," Dellario chirped, smile growing when Jones threw a small glare his way. Not a fan of the chipper attitudes, that one.

Okay, so Mike _had_ been the new guy they were looking for, which was just freakin' _fantastic_.

"You Struthers?" Sarge asked, leading his small pack over to Hunter and Henderson's location. Hunter nodded in response, resisting the urge to glance down at his nametag to confirm this fact, and the older man frowned. "You're late."

"My car broke down," Hunter offered, using the cover story he had invented on the walk over. "I got here as soon as I could."

The Sergeant stared him down for a few seconds, eyes narrowing, obviously displeased by Hunter's aloof delivery (and he would have changed it but hey, smoozing was Blake's job, not his), before he eventually sighed. "Fine," he grumbled. "I'll give ya' a break since it's your first day on the job."

With that, Sarge made a sharp one eighty, turning on his heel and heading back in the direction he had come, motioning for the others to follow.

"Alright people," Sarge began in a booming voice that reeked of authority, not deigning to baby "Mike" with simple things like introductions since he had been late. "Today we've got a basic patrol of the east side of Silver Hills. Commander Myers has ordered an upgrade in security-"

"Does this have something to do with the visitors we're not allowed to see?" Jones asked, obviously not caring about interrupting his leader. He probably figured he was bound to get crap for _something_, might as well be something he had a say in.

Hunter was starting to like Jones.

Also, _"visitors"_ obviously meant the Power Rangers Hunter had seen earlier. The fact that the Silver Guardians were being kept away from them worried Hunter for a few seconds, before he remembered that only a few of the teams had public identities, which meant that this was Myers and Collins' measure to allow them the privacy they needed. Nice, but also, interesting. The fact that Myers had ordered more patrols meant he was definitely noticing the increase in aliens in his town and this measure, which Hunter guessed was outside of the Guardians' normal duties, was to ensure the town's safety.

But was that _also_ the reason for the other Rangers being here, or was it something else?

"If it _does_," Sarge continued, annoyed but not wanting to delay their conversation further. "It's none of our goddamn business. Now the plan is for me and Burke," (Hunter assumed that was the last guy, the more serious one), "to drive circuits of our designated city sector while the rest of you patrol on foot. We check in every ten minutes, no exceptions. Someone doesn't check in, we assume the worst and formulate a plan to converge on their location, exercising caution. Now," Sarge said, glancing over his shoulder as he finished laying out their plan, eying Hunter. "My name's Miller; I'm the Squad Leader. Second in command here is Burke." He gestured over to serious guy who nodded his head cordially, his small way of saying hello. "You have any questions, you go to him. Though I'm sure the rest of the guys will be more than happy to gossip with ya'."

"Yes sir!" Dellario chirped, winking at Hunter as they continued down the sidewalk around the side of the building. "We're a couple of real chatterboxes, right Henderson?"

"Right Dellario," Henderson replied, smile in his voice.

Commander, Squad Leader, second in command and…regular Guardian, were the ranks Hunter managed make out from their brief conversation. It made sense, he guessed, that they didn't have military titles. The Silver Guardians were a security group, not an army. They were essentially really well-equipped security guards. They must address each other by their last names as a way of making them more formalized or legit, for morale or…

Well, it didn't really matter at the end of the day. They were still seasoned badasses when it came down to it.

"Alright," Sarge- _Miller_ grumbled, shaking Hunter from his thoughts. "Cut the chit chat ladies, let's at least _pretend_ we can be professional."

"Sir, I'm wounded," Dellario groaned in mock protest. "I'll have you know I'm the _most_ professional."

"Can it Dellario," Jones grumbled and Dellario, ever the joker, tried to elbow him again, though this time his British teammate had the foresight to step aside.

The chatter continued. Henderson, who seemed to be the most laid back and sociable, tried to keep Hunter/_"Struthers"_ involved, informing him exactly what the Silver Guardians did on a day-to-day basis, what the training and selection process was, and after very little prompting, launching into loud renditions of the battles they had fought against Ransik. It was a lot of information to get into their ten minute walk, probably because Dellario had a short attention span and managed to change the subject just as Hunter was sinking his teeth into their topic of conversation, but eventually they entered a parking garage, occupied by a few scattering of Silver Guardian SUVs.

Miller scoffed as they made their way over to a particular SUV, throwing Henderson an unreadable look as he pulled a set of keys out of his pocket. "Save those stories for later Henderson," he ordered quietly. "We don't want to build the kid's hopes up."

He tossed the keys over to Burke who snatched them out of the air easily, not even bothering to look at them.

"This is going to be a normal run," Miller continued, striding over to the passenger's side of the SUV as Burke unlocked it. "Nothing more than a stroll through town."

There was a part of Hunter that wanted to warn the man just as he was saying the words because a certain feeling of doom had descended upon him the moment Miller had mentioned getting Hunter's hopes up.

Because he had, in a way.

All Hunter had wanted was to pretend to patrol with these guys. Just, walk down a stretch of the street for a bit before he streaked back to Bio Labs and did a more thorough perusal, maybe even return the _damn_ gun, and make a hasty escape.

None of these things involved another "sneak" attack from Marah and Kapri.

But that was just what Hunter wanted.

So he honestly wasn't surprised when, for the second time that day, the morons three (because of course, Choobo would never be left behind) popped out from frickin' _nowhere_ with an endless swarm of Kelzaks on their heels, storming the parking garage like it was a new world to conquer and clearly they were the only warriors worthy of such a challenge.

Hunter had enough time to hear Jones' cursing and Dellario's wild cheers (okay, so that guy had to be a little unbalanced) before the horde was upon them, and he realized, far too late, that at the moment he was not, in fact, Hunter Bradley.

He was Mike Struthers, and Mike Struthers was not a ninja.

Or a Power Ranger.

So…suffice it to say, hopes crushed.

Hopes crushed like it was their goddamn _job_.

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Endnotes:

So it's pretty much a unanimous decision at my university for all the professors to give their exams/projects/other-things-that-eat-up-time the week before spring break. So it's safe to say this past week has consisted of me studying, breathing, and sleeping, whenever I get the chance. But now I've reached freedom, so I deliver unto you some more Ninja Storm shenanigans. Because clearly we hadn't gotten enough of that stuff yet.

Thanks to everyone who has stuck with this piece and is still reviewing. Honestly, you guys are more patient and awesome than I could have hoped for. Heaven's Archer, ValkyrieNyght, and Ms. Fairweather, your feedback is welcomed, appreciated, and celebrated. I hope despite the delay this still entertains.

Now, onto the chapter! I by that I mean onto the Silver Guardians, because _come on_, I couldn't very well have Hunter running around Bio Labs and _not_ meet any Silver Guardians. It would be a crime.

…and they're also fun to play with, but it would mostly be a crime.

There is a good chance that Miller's first three lines are stolen directly from RedvsBlue. Because I love it so, and if you want to hear what Miller's and Jones' voices sound like, you can go to:

www. youtube watch?v= suMq R4zzlso&lis t=EL2Xw HUfRmVjM&ind ex=3 and skip to 1:31.

And if you get mixed up on who's who, here's the outline I made for myself:

Miller- Gruff leader

Henderson – all around great guy

Burke – calm collected, focused one

Dellario – exuberant jester

Jones – greatly put upon British scapegoat. Poor booboo

Until next time.


	11. Running Time

Chapter 11

Running Time

(Which is _after _Pants Time)

Oodles of thanks to my beta the real vampire! You seriously are an editing-wizard my friend, and I am so glad you allow me to benefit from your sharp eyes, patience, and unending support. You are top. No lower. If you guys haven't, you should check out her story "My Brother's Keeper" for an interesting take on the Ninja Storm team. You won't regret it :)

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Leo would give Eric this: he might not be the fastest guy but _man_ was he determined. Every time the Lost Galaxy Ranger glanced over his shoulder to see how Eric was doing the other man was always right there, fighting to close the gap between them in the wide, tiled hallways that connected the many offices of Bio Labs together. That was a stubbornness that could not be rivaled by any other ranger. That included Taylor. And Kai.

Leo had thought at some point Eric's rage would be overcome by exhaustion but nope, it seemed like the exertion only made the Quantum Ranger want for his blood more, which was as flattering as wanting to harm your friends could be. Personally, Leo found it adorable but he recognized the fact that he wasn't the most stable of individuals anyway, so it probably wasn't an opinion anyone else shared.

Sometime soon Leo was going to have to figure out a way to bring this chase through the interior of Bio Labs to an end. If there actually _was_ a super-mega-epic-mysterious-shadowy scheme in the works that was threatening Power Rangers, there was a good chance they would actually need to fight something at some point. Besides each other. And Wes would probably appreciate it if Leo left Eric with enough energy to _do that_. Because Eric didn't seem like the type that would be left behind. Not if Wes was going. He could be passed out on the floor, consumed with fatigue, and just the mention of the _possibility_ of a battle would probably throw him into action, as though he were still up to a hundred percent. Eric seemed like one of those kind of guys. Leo would know this because _Kai_ was one of those kinds of guys, and excessive collaboration with those kinds of guys made those-guy-kinds traits easily recognizable.

…and _now_ Leo was confused. Whatever, the point still stood. He needed to draw this to a close.

He considered trying to charm his way out, a trick he had picked up in his youth to get out of a majority of the fights that came his way, but seeing as his "charm" was sort of what landed him in this position in the first place, he decided to pursue some other alternatives.

Leo could always knock Eric out. Just a small love tap. He would only be out for like, five minutes…maybe ten.

Or half an hour.

Leo could admit he wasn't exactly sure on the science of love taps. He always had varying results.

Then again, there was a good chance Eric would still be mad (or more mad) after he woke up, rendering the entire process pointless. Damn, Eric was just making _everything_ difficult. If he would only give up Leo could go back to eating his M&Ms and Kai-watching in peace.

So inconsiderate.

There was a fleeting idea where Leo just let Eric catch him, which _would_ put an end to the running, but it also landed him in the rather unfortunate position of being caught by an angry Eric Meyers, which in general seemed like a dumb thing to do. Leo was reckless but even _he_ had a few survival instincts. Instincts which were telling him that being anywhere near Eric right now was a bad idea.

So…back to square one. Again.

Apparently Leo wasn't on top of his game today.

With a depressed sigh the brunette scanned behind him, checking Eric's distance and surprised to find Adam jogging beside the Quantum Ranger, attempting, by the looks of it, to talk Eric out of his rage. That was…well, probably better than anything Leo could have done and while he sincerely doubted the likelihood Adam's success he was grateful that at least someone was trying to help. That was nice. There were plenty of people that felt the thoughts behind gestures didn't count for anything, but Leo was not one of those people. He appreciated the fact that someone tried to stick up for him. He appreciated that thought a lot.

"If you can outrun him, why haven't you done that by now?"

The new voice came from beside Leo, forcing him to repress a startled jolt because he had _not_ heard anyone approaching. Surprise of all surprises it was Lucas, jogging beside him with an expression of utter calmness, like this absurdity was all a part of his usual schedule.

Steadfast and unflappable, Leo had immediately liked Lucas. He was a stand up type of guy. Maybe a little too obsessed with his hair but hey, everybody had faults/everyone had their faults.

Lucas' raised eyebrow made Leo realize the other man was still waiting for an answer. He shrugged haplessly, ducking around a random corner, Lucas following him easily.

"I _could_ have outrun him a few minutes ago, but it turns out Eric is slightly more…"

"Pissed?" Lucas offered.

"Persistent," Leo settled on. "Than I had previously anticipated."

"Have you thought about letting him catch you?" Lucas asked, keeping his focus on Leo despite the sounds of breathless curses one Eric Meyers was spitting out behind them.

Leo gave him his best puppy dog eyes. "But I _like_ my neck."

"Take one for the team," Lucas replied impassively. "Wes wants to get us back in the council room."

"So you guys are on round up duty?" Leo couldn't help the broad smile that stretched across his face at the idea. "Got the short end of the stick?"

"We volunteered, actually." Lucas had the beginnings of a smirk as he said this, like he wanted to give into the joy of easy banter were it not for the fact he actually had a job to do right now.

Speaking of which…

"So, any ideas?" Leo asked, darting through another door to discover a cement stairwell. He contemplated the stairs for about half a second before deciding down would be his best choice and took off, jumping down the things two or three at a time.

"I still think letting him catch you is a good idea." Lucas landed beside him with the grace of…something ungraceful, but managed to keep going.

"And I still don't," Leo replied cheerily. "So let's think of something else."

"Have you tried talking to him?" Lucas asked, eyes now focused on successfully navigating the stairs to avoid breaking his neck. Which was a shame, because Leo was missing the time ranger's snarky face.

"Seeing as that's what got me into this mess…"

The blue ranger shrugged. "Couldn't hurt."

Leo blinked, suddenly aware that Lucas had a valid point. He came to an abrupt halt as they reached the bottom of the staircase, crashing into the far wall as he whipped around, the footsteps of Eric (and Adam) audible above them.

"Hey Eric!" he hollered, cupping one hand beside his mouth and trying not to smirk as Lucas made his way back towards the red ranger with a glare, not foreseeing sudden stop. "Lucas thinks I should talk to you!"

The footsteps continued for a couple of seconds before gradually coming to a halt. Based on their shadows Leo would reckon the other two rangers were on the staircase just above them.

There was a few seconds of labored breathing, Eric presumably trying to catch his breath, before the Quantum Ranger answered. "About _what_ exactly?"

"Not sure," Leo replied, unable to help the cheeky tone that unquestionably grated at Eric's nerves. "But while we're taking a break, I must say I'm impressed you've kept up so long. I figured you'd run out of anger by now."

"Yeah well," Eric spat, displeasure clear in his voice. "Now it's just a matter of principle."

"As much as I respect that," Lucas began, voice perfectly normal after having caught his breath. "Wes wants us to get back to the others."

"Did something happen?" Eric tried to keep his concern less obvious than it was, not that he succeeded, but they were all nice enough guys not to comment on it.

Lucas took this opportunity to move on, taking the conversation from chases to new interesting developments. "We think we might have misread the situation with the new rangers."

"Exactly how-?"

"Come back with us and hear for yourself," Lucas offered.

They waited for a few seconds before eventually Eric gave a sigh of defeat, which was as close to an admitted surrender as they were ever going to get from him.

"Great," Adam said, in that calm tone of voice which made everything he said sound absolutely reasonable while still being cushioned with a gentle hand. Like he was right, but he wanted you to feel good about it. It was confusing, but he somehow made it work. Probably came from growing up with Rocky.

"So…where are we?" Leo asked with a bashful scratch to the back of his head, earning an amused look from Lucas and an irritated grunt from the Quantum Ranger up the stairs.

"Right by the east parking garage," Eric muttered, clearly annoyed he had to put up with this nonsense. "Shouldn't take too long to get back to the council room. Five, maybe ten minutes-"

"Wait, _shhh_," Leo exclaimed suddenly, ears picking up the faintest sounds of…fighting? Where? Maybe he was just hearing things, too tired from the run to be thinking clearly-

"I hear it too," Lucas muttered, holding still as his ears strained to pick up the sounds of distant battle; a familiar tune they had all forced themselves to become accustomed to, to pick up and react out of duty, out of need.

That was _definitely_ the echo of minion feet. Lots and lots of minions.

And, by the sound of it, they had met some opposition.

Grumbling at being left out Eric made his way down the staircase, annoyed expression slowly coming into view. "What are you two talking about?"

"This way!" Leo didn't bother waiting for the others, he knew they would be right behind him, and, with a few startled curses from Eric trailing at his heels, he burst through the door that led into the parking garage, morphing as he went. A few seconds and brightly colored flashes later the other rangers were morphed and standing beside him, taking in the swarm of minions and general types that had set upon a squad of Silver Guardians.

He nudged Lucas' side and nodded at the frantic mob. "Let's say you go left, I go right, and we meet up in the middle?"

"I say you start fighting Sparky," Eric growled, shirking off his agitation and going into fight mode, throwing himself at the throng eagerly, Adam following behind him with that axe-thing of his.

"Good plan Q-bear," Leo chirped, balancing the weight of his Quasar Saber between his palms. "Let's do that."

"You don't _want_ him to like you, do you?" Lucas asked, whipping out this gigantic canon weapon from _nowhere_ and firing at the minions on the outskirts of the battle with restrained glee.

"Well, you know," Leo shrugged, shooting fire at the few minions Lucas had missed. "Priorities."

"I don't think you're using that word right," Lucas muttered, and then he was in the battle too, abandoning his canon whose designer had to be overcompensating for something in preference of using his fists.

"_You're _not using that word right," Leo muttered, earning a groan from Eric over their inner-headsets, and Leo felt a grin spread across his face.

_There now, that's the spirit._

It was always better when you approached things with a positive attitude.

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Hunter's first action when all hell broke loose was to kick Kapri in the face. Mostly because…well, every battle should begin with a good face-kicking, and it wasn't like he was going to throw off his usual system just because of some measly undercover work.

He had a method, okay? And that method included delivering unrestrained beat-downs to the hench-demons of the guy that killed his parents. He was pretty sure this was a reasonable desire.

Even if Kapri had the audacity to _block_, it wasn't like he couldn't give it another try. There were enough Kelzaks swarming around to keep the Silver Guardian team occupied, and Dellario seemed like he was having a ball dodging Choobo's attacks and kicking him in the shins or…shin-like area. Whatever.

"Nice duds," Kapri taunted, eyebrows lifting in an expression of amusement that clearly desired to be punched. "The utility belt is cute but don't you think the kneepads are a little much?"

Hunter took another swipe at her face, only to growl in frustration as she dodged it, ducking under his fist and smacking him in the side while he was still following through with his hit. The resulting flare of pain was enough to make him choke on his breath, his ribs declaring they were not as up to snuff as he had been desperately trying to convince them to be. He hadn't had enough time to heal, he knew it. Had been too busy running and fighting and sneaking to actually rest and let them mend themselves, and that hit…It hurt, _damn_ did it hurt, but he forced himself to keep moving, to twist with the blow to lessen the impact as much as possible.

He sucked air in through his clenched jaws and tried to play it off, maneuvering his way through a few Kelzaks that had yet to find an opponent as he skidded out of reach.

"Says the girl with the pink hair," he spat, hiding his gasps by grabbing onto one of the unoccupied henchmen and hurling it at Kapri, using the time she spent stumbling over it to take out the other two Kelzaks that were hovering nearby in that creepy crouched-pre-fight position they tended to merrily bounce in. It would have been more entertaining were they not_ annoying as hell_.

Behind him he heard a slew of laser blasts, graciously delivered from Burke who had taken up position on the roof of the SUV, using the high ground to snipe the Kelzaks on the outskirts of the battle. From what he had seen earlier Hunter guessed that Henderson was still dealing with Marah, which left Jones and Miller to put up with the rest of the lesser hench-people. That was just a guess though, as Hunter had quickly become occupied with making sure Kapri _didn't_ cleave his un-morphed head off his shoulders. It was slightly more difficult than he would have liked it to be, but that was probably because he had to constantly suppress his ninja reflexes (his _hard earned_ reflexes) to that of an average dude who knew martial arts compounded with his earlier injuries. It was frustrating. And slightly painful, but Hunter would never tell anyone else that.

Kapri's nose scrunched in a look of mild vexation. "What's wrong with my hair? I spent a lot of time making it gorgeously evil."

"There is nothing evil about braided pigtails." Hunter rolled his eyes and he aimed a kick at her knee. "With the exception of being offensive to other pigtails."

"_Ha_," Kapri snorted, hopping out of the way at the last second. "You know what pigtails are."

"What, do I live in a cave?" the blond wondered aloud, offended by the attempted belittlement and _not_ because he was called out on his hair knowledge. "And seriously, that's the best comeback you've got? _That's_ it? I mean, I'm not surprised, but still-"

"Shut up." Kapri took another swipe at him with her sword, expression peeved. "Marah talks less than you."

"Okay, that can't possibly be true," Hunter muttered, the throbbing in his side increasing the temptation of sneaking in just a _little_ bit of thunder, just a small jolt, when Kapri decided to unleash one of those energy blasts she seemed so fond of and sent him flying, landing on the ground in a graceless heap near the side of the SUV.

"And…_that _hurt." This was said mostly to himself. Luckily he had been able to curl in his knees and forearms to minimize the jolting done to his sides but still, _ow_. He deliberated the advantages of spending the rest of the battle hiding out under the SUV (screw it, his ego could take a few more blows today, he didn't care) but was unable to get a chance to enact his new plan because he was hauled up a second later. When Hunter managed to get his feet under himself he realized his aid had come from Jones, who was blinking at him with a look of combined confusion and disbelief.

"Are you _talking_ to them?" the Silver Guardian asked, visibly trying to make this proposed action somehow understandable in his mind.

Hunter felt himself shrug. "You're not?"

And then he was shoving Jones out of the way because Kapri was doing that sword-waving thing she seemed so fond of and Hunter didn't particularly feel like getting blood on his uniform.

And, you know, Jones wasn't that bad a guy.

"Hey!" Kapri turned, shouting at Jones' back. "I happen to be a great conversationalist!"

"Could have fooled me," Hunter said, and then completed the most epic maneuver of his entire ninja career, making all possible bruised/cracked/broken ribs totally worth the pain of earning them by opening one of the SUV doors and _smashing it in her face_ just as she whipped back around to face him.

The sight of Kapri's head snapping backwards and rebounding off the metal door would be one of Hunter's most treasured memories for a very long time. Shane would probably hold that against him a little, but seriously, it had been _perfect_.

"Awesome shot Struthers!" Dellario cheered, running past with a manic grin on his face while Choobo huffed and puffed behind him, whining as he gave a pitiful chase. It looked like the Silver Guardian was preying on Choobo's lack of stamina by running him around in endless circles.

_Huh…_Hunter would remember that for future usage.

"Focus Dellario!" Miller ordered tersely from the other side of the vehicle. "Has any one called this in yet?"

"Already taken care of sir," Burke replied, carefully aiming and taking out a Kelzak that had been creeping up on Jones. "Nearest squad is two minutes away."

"What, do you guys have this down to a science?" Hunter asked, partly out of curiosity and partly because he was a smartass and couldn't help it. "You know the positions of all your guys?"

"Squad coordination is a very important part of our job," Henderson chirped, briefly flitting past Hunter's view before moving back out again. "By the time Ransik was taken care of we had it down to at least thirty second intervals."

"And now look at us," Miller grumbled, sounding stubbornly indignant despite being in the middle of a battle. "We're rough guessing it with _minutes_. It's a damn disgrace."

"We could try sending another complaint to the Commanders sir," Burke offered.

Dellario made another pass, completing his second lap with a smile. "Yeah, I'm sure Commander Myers would _love_ to get another one of those."

"Can we focus?" Jones asked, sounding a lot like he was wondering why _he _was the only one taking this seriously.

Henderson scoffed from…somewhere. "Another important part of our job is _multitasking_."

"Yeah, well how about staying alive?!"

"That is but one of the tasks I've mastered completing everyday!" Dellario supplied brightly.

"You know…I'm beginning to see why they never let us go to those PR events," Burke muttered, ending his period of continued stoicism to sound mildly…disappointed?

_Awww…_poor Burke. He just wanted to get his party hat on.

"_Psh_, obviously it's because of Jones' ugly mug!"

Jones managed to spare Dellario a moment to throw his squadmate a fierce glare before turning his frustration onto a few unfortunate Kelzaks. "Complain about me all you want; meanwhile every time a bloody elementary school tours the building you _know_ that Church's squad is going to get assigned to babysit them. And you want to know why? It's because they're charming. _Char-ming_. A feature it would seem we most certainly _lack_."

Hunter swiveled his torso in time to get a view of Henderson sliding across the hood of the car, knocking feet-first into Marah, who had been attempting to sneak away. Probably would have been more successful if she didn't insist on wearing that enormous bug helmet everywhere.

"Charming-smarming!" Henderson yelled. "You know they just stuck all the pretty boys in one squad so they wouldn't scare the kids away!"

"It helps that they're not psychotic," Jones groused.

"By that you mean _bo-ring_!" Dellario cheered, now having slowed down to a mild jog as Choobo stumbled pitifully behind him.

"Does it matter?" Jones asked. "They're still the ones that get to do the tours."

"What's so great about this tour business?" Hunter finally got a good shot at Kapri's sword-wielding hand and took it, knocking the weapon aside with a vicious grin.

Great; _now_ he could get to some serious face-kicking.

Or maybe he would just herd her over to Jones so he could do it. At the rate he was going that would probably be easier.

"At the end of the tour they give out cookies," Henderson chirped, swiftly sidestepping a punch from Marah. "_Fresh_ cookies."

"They are basically the greatest thing you have ever eaten in your life," Dellario added, shrinking the loop he had been making until he was essentially just jogging back and forth the length of the SUV. "But do we get them? _No_."

"They only give them out at PR events," Burke supplied, a quiet hint of melancholy lingering in his voice.

_Awwww, poor Burke_.

"So therefore, we never get them," Jones concluded, voice tinged with regret and frustration; realistic enough to figure out there would be no cookie-filled future for them.

"Hold on a second." Hunter combat rolled (what, he could do that; he needed to _get out of the way_) around Kapri and repositioned himself with his back to Burke's vehicle. "If you guys never do PR events, how do you know what the cookies taste like?"

He was breathing harder than normal when he managed to right himself again, but he managed _not_ to pathetically brace a hand against his side anyway, so that had to count for something.

_Note to self, combat rolls are bad for injured ribs_.

That wasn't going to stop him from talking or fighting or anything…or even from ignoring that note in the future; it just felt like something he should acknowledge so that little voice in the back of his head that sounded suspiciously like Cam would stop being so _goddamn_ hypercritical.

"They handed them out when they re-opened Bio Labs after Ransik's defeat," Miller explained, choosing to add his own piece once he realized that this conversation was going to carry on whether it was the smart thing to do or not.

Henderson bent back to allow one of Marah's swipes to sail over him and recovered. "I think they wanted to use it as incentive for good behavior or something."

"Wait, wasn't that years ago?" Hunter asked, then came to the sudden epiphany that they were talking about baked goods during a fight. They. _Civilians_. Who didn't have the comfort of morphers for security.

They were just… yammering away.

Hunter really liked these guys. He was willing to go so far as to say he would miss them.

"It's been _so long_," Burke muttered; to anyone else it would have sounded completely stoic but there was a hint of sorrow in there that made it practically wailing in Burke's world.

"I know buddy," Henderson consoled. "I'm sure one day we'll get there."

"_Aaaaand_, now I want cookies," Hunter complained, to no one really. At most he expected a chorus of agreement.

What he didn't expect was a voice, gruff and annoyed and demanding respect all at once, to dignify him with an answer.

"We'll get you some later," the voice groused, and the next moment a ranger- no, _the_ ranger ran into view, inserting himself between Hunter and Kapri and picking up their fight without missing a beat. It was undeniably satisfying to watch Kapri _finally_ get punched hard enough to be knocked off her stupid, air-headed _feet_, but the feeling of triumph was slowly replaced by one of dread because _no no no no noooooo_-

But yes. There he was, the Quantum Ranger, Eric Meyers, kicking ass and taking names and _what_ was the first thing Hunter had said (not intentionally, but that didn't matter because he had still _said_ it) in his presence?

Oh yeah, he had complained about cookies. _Cookies_.

Hunter had to force himself into ten seconds of calm breathing the urge to start smashing his head against the SUV was so strong.

Just. His. Luck.

It wasn't…well, it was stupid anyway, this (_hero worship/fixation/idolizing)_ admiration he and Blake had for Eric. It wasn't like there weren't other rangers. It wasn't even like there weren't other _public_ rangers. There was the Space team that had fought Astronoma, though that was back when the death of their parents was still a new and tender wound, aching and leaving them blind to focus on things that weren't each other. And there was the Lightspeed Rescue team, but they and all their publicity was mostly focused on Mariner Bay. People knew who they were, but they weren't as well known as some of the others.

But the media had been all over Wes and Eric, rangers and co-leaders of the Silver Guardians, and by then Blake and Hunter had been old enough to care. And it wasn't that Wes wasn't someone worth respecting - he was a _goddamn _Power Ranger - but with Eric…

He had fought to get to where he was. He had come from nothing, just like Blake and Hunter came from nothing and yes, yes the blond would admit they were as depressingly dumb as to form some sort of correlation based on that, as though that gave them a special bond or something, but Hunter liked to think that if Eric could make it, maybe he wasn't too damaged to function in this world. It was something he held onto tighter after he had become a ranger. One of the stupid thoughts that kept him going when he was running low on will and rational thinking to get him through the day. If Eric could do it, he and Blake could do it. It was just that simple.

And then it had somehow twisted into this creepy fanboy thing where Blake would buy magazines that happened to mention the guy or Hunter would commandeer one of Cam's computers to look up Ranger Gossip (for the internet was a magical place), but it was probably just their small way of sabotaging themselves on the off-hand chance they ever met the guy so they wouldn't try to do anything as stupid as actually attempting to form a meaningful relationship. He and Blake wouldn't deny it; they had issues.

All of which were coming back and making themselves very well-known to Hunter the moment other rangers entered into the fray. There was another flash of red in the distance but it wasn't Collins; the uniform was different, but there- yeah, that was the Time Force blue, whose appearance was a lot more surprising than it should have been.

Not much was known about the other Time Force Rangers. According to the press they were actually from the _future_, but neither Bio Labs nor the remaining Time Force Rangers ever moved to confirm that story. It made sense. Sort of. At least with the whole "Time Force" business and the fact that they were never around, with the exception of _this_ exact moment.

The last ranger was one of the original team, the Black Ranger, and it was fairly obvious that he was a guy that had not lost any of his skills over the years. If anything, he had honed them into something deadly beyond reason, mowing through the Kelzaks like they were nothing and taking care of Choobo with one blow from his axe, knocking the would-be general to the ground until he was stranded like a turtle, waving his arms in a miserable attempt to get up.

Based on past experience that probably wasn't going to happen.

The tide of battle changed almost immediately. Before it had been a forced stalemate, with the Guardians fighting to meet the others in the middle. It wasn't that they weren't capable; they just weren't equipped to deal with the dark ninja techniques Marah and Kapri kept throwing at them. The best they could have done was hold them off, so they had.

Not really the case now.

Eventually the four rangers managed to crowd the dim-twins and their tagalongs into a small cluster away from the Silver Guardians. Kapri was sneering at them, holding an arm in front of her sister protectively as they began a cautious retreat.

"It's not over!" she yelled, as was required by the rule of stereotypical evil-doer goodbyes. "And my hair _is_ evil!"

"Whatever helps you sleep at night!" Hunter taunted back, able to share a conspiratorial wink with Dellario now that the other rangers were doing all the heavy lifting. His ribs still ached and he (probably) shouldn't be yelling, but like hell was he letting Kapri get the last say. And if the other Guardians noticed the tension in his shoulders or his slightly raised breathing, they didn't comment on it.

Kapri looked like she was about to say something but Marah tugged at her side, expression pleading. "Kapri, let's just get out of here."

"_Fine_," Kapri relented with a heavy sigh. She turned her eyes back towards Hunter, narrowing them. "You have a stupid face."

"You're named after pants," he sneered back and got the satisfaction of her outraged expression for about half a second before she was gone, the whole lot of them teleported out back to their stupid spaceship to lick their wounds and brainstorm other ways to make Hunter's life miserable.

He was startled out of his brooding when Henderson clapped a hand against his shoulder, smiling cheerfully as he nodded in the direction of the other rangers. "I think that went well."

"Eh, could have gone worse." Jones shrugged nonchalantly and made a show of working a crick out of his back.

Meanwhile Hunter fought off a wince and nodded, taking in the satisfied looks from all the other guardians. Even the corners of Burke's lips were _almost_ quirked up in happiness.

Continuing with the joy and camaraderie Henderson's hand slid across Hunter's shoulder and looped until it was around his neck in a friendly half-hug. "I've got to hand it to you kid, you did awesome out there."

"_Oooh_, Burke, you missed it!" Dellario said, talking a mile a minute despite the fact Miller kept prodding him to check for wounds. "Druthers literally smashed one of the SUV doors into the pink one's face."

"The pants one," Jones clarified, because he had found that impressive too, and Dellario smiled at him.

"It was probably one of the greatest things I've ever seen."

"Let's just hope it didn't damage the car."

And just like that the fun and games were over; the Guardians and Hunter snapped their heads to the front, focusing on the Quantum Ranger as he made his way over towards them. The other three rangers were conversing in the background, probably using their internal radios based on the bobbing helmets and lack of sound. Trying to see just what all _that_ was about.

"Miller," Meyers said, helmet dipping in a slight nod as he greeted the Squad Leader. "What happened here?"

"Not quite sure sir," Miller replied, voice rough but certain. "We were just about to go out on patrol when they swarmed in out of nowhere."

"They probably teleported," the ranger offered and Miller nodded.

"That's what I suspected. Anyway, Burke called it in and we did our best to hold em' off. Agile little cretins," Miller grumbled. "A lot faster than what we're used to."

"But at least they don't hurt to punch," Dellario said with a tiny smile, the formality of the debrief slipping as he added his two cents.

"_If_ you can punch them," Jones snarked.

"Did they ever mention _why_ they were attacking?" Meyers asked, helmet still turned towards Miller, ignoring the other Guardian's comments.

"No sir," Miller replied with a regretful shake of the head. "All they did was fight."

"Druthers was talking up a storm though," Dellario informed his leader as though it were an interesting factoid, not very important but enough to make you sit back and feel like a slightly more educated and well-learned person. You know, pump up your self esteem.

Unfortunately, Myers was on a mission here, so Hunter wasn't all that surprised when he found himself with a Quantum Ranger in his face, ready for an interrogation.

"What did they say?" he asked, not looming, but definitely expecting an answer.

Hunter shifted under the glare of the gleaming helmet, not used to being on the end of one outside of his team, and shrugged. "Nothing important, mostly just taunts."

"Be specific," Myers said, hint of warning edging in on his tone, not all out threatening, but like he wanted to. Like he'd had a very long day and was coming to the end of his patience.

Well wasn't _that_ just the most ideal way to meet your _idol/hero/person-to-aspire-to_?

Henderson tightened his hold in a comforting squeeze and Hunter used that, keeping his face straight as he stared down the vexed Quantum Ranger. "She didn't like our uniforms, was upset by how benevolent her hair was, and kept trying to stab me with a sword."

"Unsuccessfully," Henderson added with a well-practiced smile, aiming to take the edge off their leader's frustrations.

"That's about the basic gist of it," Hunter finished. And there, done. There was no further reason for Eric Myers to give him the second degree.

The Commander contemplated him for a second, and then the helmet gradually tilted to the side, like he was trying to get a better look at Hunter.

"Who are you?"

Before Hunter could say anything, Dellario cheerfully answered for him. "He's our intern!" he chirped. "Mike Struthers. Has only been on the job for about half an hour."

Aside from the helmet gracefully returning to its original position this earned no reaction from Eric, which left it open for one of the other rangers, the red one, to call over. "Bet you didn't know you had interns Q-Bear!"

"Can it Sparky," he snapped, low and forceful, without bothering to look behind him. Just over his shoulders Hunter could see the Blue Time Force Ranger shaking his head in what was probably exasperation. "Well Struthers, you did a good job." He nodded slowly. "All of you did. I'll talk to Maureen in catering to see about getting you guys some cookies."

The moment of attempted professionalism was ended with cheers from the Silver Guardians, and even a real smile from Burke (it was a small one, but it was there) and Hunter had to fight off the ridiculously huge grin that kept threatening to break his collected exterior, _he did good, Eric Meyers said he did __**good**_- and then a pair of arms were thrown about him, Dellario latching onto his side in an enthusiastic bear hug that was hardy enough to lift the blond's feet completely off of the ground.

Unfortunately, that also required a good deal of squeezing to a part of his body that was already much-abused, making Hunter's ribs decide that enough was finally enough and sent an immediate jolt of pain flaring up his right side, red hot and all-consuming; like it was nagging him for not-morphing and sneaking around in half-assed undercover missions. It hurt. It hurt as badly as it hurt when Toxipod and Choobo were screwing with his head; it hurt more than a bout of "sparring" with Cam; it _hurt_.

So it wasn't surprising when this finally read on his face with a flinch he couldn't hope to hide. Dellario sensed the shift and put him down immediately, brushing aside Hunter's hands as he tried to indicate he was fine and gently probing at his ribs, frowning whenever he found that sweet spot of absolute _pain_.

Hunter would like to note that he did not whimper. He _didn't_, but he couldn't help reflexively sucking in a quick breath and wincing, jaw clenched as Dellario discovered the rib/ribs that were probably broken, or damn well intending to _get there_.

Great- this was- _great_. In fact, this was actually how he had wanted to meet Eric Meyers (horrible, horrible lie; he actually hadn't wanted to meet Eric _at all_, he was weird like that), so this probably couldn't get any better. People got injured, he knew that; in fact it was pretty laudable that the Guardians had managed as well as they had injury-wise, and Hunter _shouldn't_ feel anything more than apathetic, but he was also a member of the trio that managed to complicate the simple act of _returning a weapon_ to new and innovative extremes, so suffice it to say, he felt incredibly shitty about it.

"Get him to Medical," Meyers ordered, tone revealing nothing more than authority. "And _all of you_ get checked out. I'll call up Church's squad and have them take over your patrol."

"Dear lord it's like Christmas," Dellario murmured quietly, giving Hunter a reassuring smile as they began to usher themselves away, the Guardians reflexively falling into position around Hunter.

"Careful with those thoughts," Jones added. "You'll probably doom us all."

It was like they didn't learn.

Not that they suffered under the particular delusion that saying specific words or having a certain attitude in any way tempted the outcome of stressful circumstances to come out horribly, but there was coincidence and then there was utter misfortune; that latter seeming to follow around this squad of Silver Guardians like it was their own personal mascot.

The building shook, causing them to stumble and fight to keep their footing. Between Henderson and Jones, Hunter managed to keep on his feet, but it was a near thing. Behind them, above the cursing and the groans he could hear the shocked voices of the rangers, trying to figure out what was going on.

Hunter's best guess, his _brilliant_ guess, was simple. If the rangers were surprised then this sudden earthquake wasn't a potential reason for their team up, which meant it had to be because of team Ninja Storm, because that was how life was turning out today, which meant that Marah and Kapri must have run home to their deranged Uncle and begged for some reinforcements.

_Big_ reinforcements.

Or maybe a lot of little ones, though to be honest, that wasn't much better.

"Get in the building!" Meyers yelled, looking over his shoulder before whipping back around to face his hodge-podge team of rangers, motioning them towards the door that led to the outside.

Hunter wanted to follow; he needed to find a way to sneak off and ask Blake and Dustin what the hell was going on, but he was already being pulled away by the team of Silver Guardians, jogging into the shaking depths of Bio Labs in search of possible safety.

Hunter took a quick moment to evaluate his current mission's progress.

He had A) Successfully gotten into the building

B) Unsuccessfully avoided detection

C) Got roped along for a patrol they never made it to

D) Earned himself some cookies

E) Met a bunch of crazy people

F) Aggravated the hell out of a recent injury

G) Met his idol

H) Got the best compliment in the world

I) Was dragged off like wounded wildebeest in front of said idol and other assorted idols

J) Instigated a possible large-monster attack in a city where he had no zord access.

And K) Learned absolutely nothing

He wanted that to be surprising, but it wasn't.

A lesser man would be depressed.

But Hunter Bradley was a beast, so he decided to be resigned instead.

It would probably make life easier.

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Endnotes:

In which Leo runs around and we get some explanation as to Hunter's rabid fanboy-ism. Apparently there's meaning to that.

While writing this particular chapter I had a sudden attack of Silver-Guardians-Squad Snarky-time. Did not foresee that. Normally I wouldn't spend this much time on OC's but they're so _funnnnn_. Seriously guys.

And that's right. Bio Labs has _catering_.

As for reviews, thanks to Rayne for reviewing "Paved with Good Intentions", if they're reading this. I'm glad you enjoyed the story, and it was my pleasure to entertain :)

One final note: While I have Adam as a Ninjetti in this story, that uniform is similar enough to the original Mastodon-Mighty Morphin' for Hunter to be confused. In explanation to that, in case some of you were wondering what I was going on about.

Until next time :D


	12. This Is Why We Can't Have Nice Things

Chapter 12

This Is Why We Can't Have Nice Things

Thanks to the patient and ever-supportive real vampire for beta-ing this chapter and assuaging my worries. She is, in fact, the bee's knees, and if you guys haven't checked out her story "My Brother's Keeper", then you are missing out. It is good reading.

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The Samurai Star Megazord's approach to the indicated satellite went smoothly, which was cause for more concern than Cam would have liked. He preferred obvious hurdles to the ones that hid, the traps that _could_ be in waiting; yet as he maneuvered his zord alongside what appeared to be the satellite's docking connection Cam had been met with no opposition. Perhaps they were waiting for him to get inside then, or maybe this really was what Cyber Cam claimed it to be. Which would be incredibly useful; so much that Cam's mind blazed with the possibilities of having access to a real ranger network. There could be other technological minds out there he could bounce ideas off of, share knowledge, get advice. Cam would never be as arrogant to assume he could not benefit from the knowledge of others, and the idea they could finally reach their peers…

Useful. Very useful. And also very tempting.

That made it a perfect trap.

Cam was about to instruct his program to call up a connection with Sheila, allowing the tech to talk to "her" for the first time, when a proximity alert went off, a dull light flashing at the top left of his viewscreen.

"Dude," Cyber Cam said, automatically amplifying the image so that the green ranger could get a better look at it. "Hate to be a buzzkill, but it looks like we've got company."

"It's a zord," Cam muttered, frowning at the unfamiliar image. It wasn't a zord he recognized, nor did it look like any Lothor employed. "New muscle, do you think?"

When Cyber Cam didn't immediately respond Cam cursed, realizing the possibility of the program being disabled was coming to horrible fruition.

"Switching to manual," he muttered, more for the benefit of the cockpit footage than for anything else; he wanted the others to know what was happening if…things went badly. "Disengaging from-"

"Woah, slow down there Lonestar, I was just chatting with my new lady friend. Turns out, she knows the guys."

"Of course," Cam replied calmly, continuing to unlatch from the docking connection. "I'm sure they're very well acquainted."

He would have to trigger Cyber Cam's emergency shutdown. If he was lucky that would minimize the damage to the Ops' network. Cam had a basic program waiting as a backup; nothing as fancy as Cyber Cam but well enough and _safe_ enough to get the job done. It could carry out whatever functions Cam required of it while he tried to sort out the mess of the mystery hackers.

"No joke creator dude," Cyber Cam continued. "Those are Power Rangers. You know, _other_ good guys. Like_ I said_. Sheila said they've been trying to contact us for a while, something about-"

"Disconnection complete," Cam murmured. "Preparing to-"

"Seriously?" Cyber Cam asked, exasperation ringing in his tone like the green ranger was some socially-inept person he had to constantly put up with. "You are the worst. _Worst_. Just, lay off the paranoia for half a second-"

"If this is going to be a fight I would like the ability to maneuver freely," Cam muttered, eyeing the oncoming zord. "That's not paranoia, that's practicality."

He really _should_ shut down Cyber Cam-

"Whatever dude," the program huffed. "And just so you know, you've got an incoming call."

"Incoming-?" Cam began to ask, but it was a meaningless effort as a second later the upper left monitor that had showed the magnified image switched. Now Cam got a look at the inside of the zord where, sure enough, two rangers sat side-by-side. One was the Silver Space Ranger, the other a blue unknown.

"Hi," the Silver Ranger chirped, waving a hand in greeting. "So…my name's Zhane, this is Kai-"

The blue ranger slowly turned his helmet to face Zhane, somehow managing a certain kind of menace with very little effort. Most likely peeved that the other ranger had divulged his name.

His annoyance was completely disregarded as Zhane continued happily, "-and _we_ were just wondering what was going down on earth with, you know, the signal blocking and stuff."

"Signal blockers…" Cam was slowly beginning to realize how the pieces fit together, maybe; assuming his basic guess for how Sheila's functions actually worked was, in fact, correct.

"See, I told you," Cyber Cam broke in, sounding gleeful and smug. "Ye of little faith. I'm totally un-hackable; you should know that by now bro. The only thing that's been compromised about me is my _heart_."

"Quiet you," Cam muttered, having no patience for Cyber Cam's new found penchant of sappy over- romanticizations. It was not the first time he had pondered how he could have created something so hell-bent on annoying him. "Take your celebrations-"

"Uh, hello?"

Cam snapped his head back towards the screen to find Zhane waving a hand back and forth, trying to get his attention.

"Can you hear us?" the silver ranger continued. "Or are you just the strong silent type?"

"We aren't here to hurt you," the other ranger added, though his message was slightly counteracted by the coolness of his tone, something Zhane critiqued with an attempted elbow to his side. It was blocked though, negating the effort.

"I know that," Cam replied. "Now, about this satellite-"

"We can see the helmet moving but we're not getting any sound," Zhane interrupted, trying to be helpful. "Is something wrong with your zord?"

"Nothing's wrong with-" Cam began to say, but was interrupted by the blue ranger.

"Sheila, try accessing his radio channel."

"You won't be able to do that," Cam started. "I have a…"

_Oh_, yes, that was right. The blocker. It prevented him from being tracked, but it also kept him from being able to access their inner helmet speakers, or they his.

"Wait just, give me a second." Cam held up his index finger in a _'just one moment'_ signal and switched off the video feed. In order to turn off his blocker he would have to power down, and despite the confirmed fact he was dealing with rangers he would rather not divulge his appearance just yet.

"They're getting kind of antsy," Cyber Cam warned, but Cam ignored him in favor of adjusting his morpher, trying to undo his effects from earlier. Whatever difficulties Dustin and the others had encountered, Cam faced no such problems. He was able to turn off the blocker with no issues. He quickly morphed afterwards, feeling exposed without the protection of his suit.

Perhaps it was a difference in the morphers then, that he had a necklace whereas theirs were attached to their wrists; he would have to look into that, but-

"Okay," he said, turning the video feed back on, the other cockpit coming into view. "I think I fixed the problem. Can you hear me?"

"Loud and clear," Zhane said, good humor in his tone while he offered up two thumbs up.

"That must have something to do with your blocker," the blue ranger, Kai, intoned quietly. "Sheila says your signal's back up."

"Yes," Cam admitted with a slow nod, refusing to be shaken by the other ranger's quick deduction. Her programmer, perhaps. Or maybe he was just a quick thinker. It could go either way. "Now, what interest do you have-?"

And that was as far as they got with the pleasantries whenever both zords were blindsided by a barrage of missiles, proximity alarms going off too late as their zords jolted from the sudden attacks. Once Cam got a handle on his controls he maneuvered his zord to the area most likely out of range of the attacks, getting away from the satellite and turning so he could see the one that initiated the fight.

"Zurgane," he growled, frowning as the general's zord came into view. The next second he was dancing away, weaving through attacks, mind racing as to what the henchman's goal was.

"So, not good news?" Zhane asked, already realizing the answer. Cam didn't dignify it with a response, so the silver ranger continued, letting loose a few attacks of his own to properly thank the general for his advances. "I suppose we'll save the small talk for later then."

"Sounds like a plan to me," Cam muttered, keeping his focus on the battle. "CC, update the others."

He barely acknowledged the _"Will do"_ he received in return, too busy trying to coordinate with rangers he had never met and keep his mind from wandering onto what was happening to the others.

Because there was no way this could be the entire offensive. This felt like more of a distraction, something to keep Cam away.

So if he was stuck here, he couldn't help but wonder what was happening _there_.

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"Umm…Blake?"

"What Dustin?" the younger Bradley replied, choosing to keep his tone in the realm of resigned exasperation so he could cover up the feeling of worry insistently jabbing at his brain.

Of course Hunter would have them watch the unconscious guy in the car. Why _should_ they be keeping an eye on Bio Labs for suspicious behavior, or even be nearby in case things went bad for Hunter? Why, that would be _smart_. That would indicate a degree of Hunter giving a damn about his own safety. That would be the logical thing to do, whereas the _illogical _thing to do in this never-ending shit storm of nonsense would be to watch some unconscious guy _continue_ to be unconscious. Because that was riveting. And useful.

And Blake knew - don't think he didn't - that Hunter was still wounded from their first skirmish with the tree-hurling monster. He had eyes; he knew what an attempting-to-cover-up-wounds Hunter acted like, and this was it. One of the many reasons Blake had been against the plan to sneak into Bio Labs.

Why, _why_ couldn't they just walk in there, offer up their morphers and talk to the rangers like _normal _people. Or…normal _ranger_ people. Blake understood the whole 'ninja lifestyle' thing but at this point he was beginning to think that Hunter was feeling that foreign and frightening sensation called "embarrassment" and _any_ other situation for making first impressions would be preferable to this one.

It was an option.

"I think…" Dustin trailed off, in that particular tone of voice that was partly-confused and partly-occupied. It was the same tone he got whenever he was doing recon work but couldn't _quite_ believe what he was seeing. It was also, in Blake's experience, indicative that the shit was hitting the fan in t-minus three seconds, so the navy ranger really wasn't surprised, when he turned to see what Dustin was looking at, to behold the horribly dooming sight of Kelzaks swarms flooding the streets below them.

"_Shit_," Blake cursed. Dustin nodded distractedly, eyes darting around in search of their leader, because if there were this many there had to be a monster, maybe two, but there were definitely more than a standard Marah and Kapri attack.

"Yeah," Dustin muttered. "We are _not_ alone."

"Call the others," Blake ordered, noting that the other ranger had already moved to do so before he had started talking.

Good, that left Blake to scan the rooftops. If there was anything the goons Lothor hired loved to do, it was make a grand entrance. And for some reason or other that required a certain degree of height.

Badguys, seriously.

"Blake, dude, they say Cam's being attacked too," Dustin said, cell phone pressed against his ear with one hand while the other gripped his t-shirt, worried.

Blake's eyebrows furrowed, thrown by this information. Why Cam and not the others? Why would it be _just_ him? "What do you mean-?"

"He went to go to some satellite," Dustin interrupted, seeing where his question was headed. "Something about making contact with rangers? Anyway, he's held up in a zord battle now."

"Decoy?" Blake asked.

Dustin nodded. "That's what Shane thinks."

"Tell Shane-"

The explosion went off only a few feet behind the two teenagers; Blake realizing that their attacker had a clear view of them before he was tumbling forward, caught in the force of it all and knocked clean off his feet, skidding to a halt half a rooftop later. Dustin rolled to a stop beside him, hand stubbornly latched onto his phone. Blake immediately shoved himself to his feet, racing to stand in front of the yellow ranger until he could get up.

It wasn't until he managed to steady himself that he realized the monster before them, the one that had caught them unawares, happened to be a monster that had plagued him and his brother with a stubborn shadow of guilt that refused to leave. But it- Dustin had already taken _care of it_; Blake had seen that much for himself and it wasn't like Lothor to do repeats. Upgrades, maybe, like with Toxipod and Super Toxipod on that godforsaken island, but this…

"Tell them to get over here," Blake ordered, unable to keep his voice from rising as he attempted to stare down the Doompot monster in front of him.

"Done," Dustin replied, slight waver in his voice the only confirmation that he realized who their aggressor was.

Blake saw him get to his feet shakily, shoving his phone into his pocket and readjusting his grip on the backpack's strap, waiting for Blake to make a call.

"Suit up," Blake murmured. The next second was spent with them leaping apart in a blaze of color, morphing and dodging attacks thrown out by ole' Doompot.

The monster would start off with energy attacks first, then later, when they were worn down he would start trapping them, snatching them up to a place where they could be no help. There was familiarity in repeat performances, though there were some monsters Blake knew, they _all_ knew, they would rather erase from memory.

Doompot was one of them.

"D!" Blake yelled, consciously using the nickname to avoid using Dustin's actual name, forced to having to rely on his helmet's external speakers in order to communicate. "Fall back and regroup!"

Which was really just a fancy way of saying duck and weave like your life depended on it until Blake could come up with a better plan. Dustin's helmet bobbed and they took off, speeding over rooftops while Doompot gave chase, cackling after them.

"D," Blake continued, sparing a glance in Dustin's direction when they landed on a far rooftop. "The gun?"

If this guy was like the last Doompot monster they had faced their attacks would do nothing to stop him, but if they still had the gun…

"It's not-" Dustin began, and it was then Blake realized the backpack was no longer on the yellow ranger's back. "It went to that place our clothes go to when we fight! I think."

"Seriously?" Blake asked, more to himself than anything, but Dustin frantically nodded in reply anyway.

"Think so," Dustin replied, sounding abashed. "I mean, I could try calling for it like we do our own weapons, see how that works…"

"Don't worry," Blake cut in. "We'll think of something."

He'd just have to distract it for awhile and give Dustin time to power down. Then the brunette could get the weapon and go to town and everything could be fine, and they could go back to only having a _stupid_ amount of things going wrong, as opposed to an _infinitely_ stupid amount.

"And B," Dustin said, barreling into Blake's shoulder and moving him behind some old smokestacks (_smokestacks, seriously_) and allowing Doompot to blaze right past them, still barreling forward.

"What D?"

"I uh…well," he motioned off behind them, in the distance where…

Blake swore his vow of vengeance against Silver Hills anew.

"There're _more_ of them," Dustin murmured.

Sure enough, in the distance the rooftops were littered with other variations of Doompot, all cackling, all crazy, all…

In a city densely populated with Power Rangers.

_Shit_.

"You know after this," Blake muttered, pushing Dustin back into motion as _their_ Doompot came charging back towards them, finally becoming aware of their hiding place. "We might just have to hide away _forever_. I'm serious D, no veteran ranger meet-and-greets for us."

"Which is just sad in my opinion," Dustin replied, tone genuinely conveying a moderate depression. "Because I was going to make us all waffles."

"Chocolate chip?" Blake asked, signaling Dustin to wait for his mark before they moved back on the offensive.

Dustin's helmet bobbed up and down; were Blake able to see through the other teen's visor he was sure Dustin's look would be remarkably wide-eyed and earnest. "With _syrup_."

"Well," Blake began, turning his attention back towards the charging monster. "That _is_ sad."

"A true tragedy for all," Dustin agreed, and then after that they were jumping apart again, ending their banter-filled reprieve and back to focusing on the very real, very serious circumstances they had landed in.

Suffice it to say, there were much worse happenings than a waffle-less future.

_Much worse_.

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"So, there were rangers-"

"Are you seriously talking now?" Jones seemed to have defaulted to this constant look of incredulity where everything Hunter said was met with raised eyebrows and disbelief. "You're injured, save your words for later."

"Sure, I _could_ do that," Hunter admitted begrudgingly, attempting to shrug with the arm slung around the British Guardian and not reaching any kind of success with it. "But then I wouldn't be using my time efficiently."

"We're _under attack_," Jones muttered, eyes ahead and focused on the oncoming traffic, the hallways filling with employees, Guardians, and who-knew-else running around frantically. "What could you possibly need to chat about now?"

"The other rangers." Which were, honestly, all Hunter's brain decided it was going to focus on for the time being, instead of on important things like the state of his ribs or the possible battles his brother and Dustin could be engaging in at _this_ _exact second, _without him, but there wasn't much he could do until the squad dumped him off in the Infirmary. Or medical, whatever. Hunter would focus on his next move when he got there. Until then…

"You guys were, you know," Hunter shrugged again, causing Jones to give an irritated grunt at his insistence on needless movement. In front of them Burke glanced over his shoulder to give the blond a reprimanding eye, one that said he cared but seriously, cut the shit. Or something like that. Hunter, being…Hunter, ignored it. "Awfully calm for being in the presence of…"

"World savers?" Henderson supplied from his other side, when Hunter was forced to stop and remind his pain who was _boss_.

"Yeah," Hunter said when he caught his breath again. "How'd you...?"

"Be so calm?" Dellario's voice carried from behind them, sounding surprisingly cheerful for a tense battle situation. "It's easy. After all, they're people too."

"It's intimidating at first," Henderson admitted, smiling when Hunter raised his eyebrows. "But after you work with Commander Myers and Commander Collins for long enough, you realize they don't want special treatment. They're just people. People who risk their lives with super suits and giant robots, but people nonetheless."

"I know that," Hunter muttered, trying not to show his surprise at how accurate the other man was. "I just…wish I could have thanked them."

For doing what he did way before him. For saving them before Hunter ever had an idea of understanding their sacrifices.

"Me too."

It was a quiet concession from Henderson, but somehow among the noise of movement and bodies it still managed to carry. In front of them Miller nodded, gaze resolutely forward but acknowledging this truth in silence, and out of the corner of his eye Hunter could see Jones doing the same. It was probably the only thing the two men would ever agree on, but despite the adversity between them they wouldn't shy away from this fact. A part of Hunter, one of the many he consciously chose to ignore, felt stupidly grateful for the gesture, like their thanks somehow applied to him too and, as much as he tried to tell himself otherwise (as much as he could while still _obviously_ ignoring that small voice), the feeling stubbornly remained.

He supposed he could let this one slide, just this once. It would be a nice highlight to the trip.

"Cut the chit chat ladies," Miller ordered quietly, breaking the moment of appreciative silence that had settled over them. "It's time to focus on the new plan of attack; any second now the alarm's-"

Like clockwork, red strobe lights seemed to drop from the ceiling, spaced every ten feet or so down the hallways just as a slow wail started over the building's speakers. Hunter could see Miller's jaw tighten in that familiar scowl, cursing his timeliness, and then the older Guardian was shaking his head, disgusted by the growing stream of coincidences piling upon this particular team of Guardians.

"I think you should look into possible genetic mutation sir," Dellario joked, still cheerful over the blaring siren. "Your timing's beginning to be uncanny."

"_Now_?" Jones asked, sarcasm and disbelief reaching levels achieved only by super humans. And Hunter would because well, super human. "Because earlier we were still in doubt, it wasn't until _this_ particular _moment-_"

"Can it Jones," Miller ordered, ignoring the indignant sputter from the blond Guardian. "And you too Dellario; it's game time."

They rounded a corner and found themselves swimming upstream against a swarm of Guardians, all of them armed and ready, some of them carrying tripods and canons, others in helmets with some mean-looking laser rifles, and all of them aiming for the exits. Beside him, Jones' jaw clenched, buffering away the other Guardians that got too close with his shoulder to make sure Hunter kept his breathing room. Before the crimson ranger could thank him Miller had them turning into another hallway, this one thankfully empty, and the jog continued; alarms and strobe lights blazing.

"There's going to be a change of plans," Miller continued, once they were far away enough from the busy hallway to be heard. "If this is an all out attack we're going to be needed out there. That means no time for medical check-ins."

"But sir," Henderson started, already putting up a fight for Hunter even though he hadn't asked him to. "Struthers needs-"

"We're getting the kid to Medical, don't worry about that." Miller eyed Henderson quickly over his shoulder, gruff and demanding, but clearly indicating he was aware of what needed to be done. "But as soon as that's finished we're heading to the armory, get ourselves properly equipped before we go back to dealing with those things."

"How far away is it?" Hunter asked, mind calculating the distance to the nearest exit, seeing his opportunity. "Medical, I mean."

Miller gave Hunter a calculating look, considering the teen as he slowed the pack down to a jog, eventually halting. "Not far," he answered, turning to face him as the other Guardians circled in. "Just another hallway and then we're there."

"That one?" Hunter asked, pointing to a hall branching off to the right, a sign hanging down with a first aid cross and an arrow pointing in that direction.

"That's it." Miller nodded.

"Then go," Hunter said, motioning behind him in the direction of the busy hallways. "I can make it from here."

"Kid-" the Squad Leader began to protest, a warning in his tone Hunter would never begin to heed.

"It's just one hallway right?" Hunter said. "I can make it that far."

When the only response was a tightened grip from Jones and a slow headshake from Burke, Hunter frowned, pulling his arms away from Jones' and Henderson's grasp and steadying himself on his own two feet. Albeit somewhat shakily, but still, his _own goddamn feet_.

"Go," he said, giving Jones a warning look when he began to reach back towards him. "I can handle a two minute walk. Besides, where else can I go?"

Aside from stupid places he had no right to be going. Like a battlefield.

That seemed to win them over, or at least Miller, with a begrudging look. Henderson looked like he was going to object but Miller cut him off, indicating his decision was final. "Okay then," Miller said. "We'll leave you to it, Mr. Struthers. But I swear if I come back here and find you passed out in the damn hallway you and Jones are going to be running so many laps your two-minute walk will be but an inspirational dream of the future. Got it?"

"Got it," Hunter replied with a nod, smiling when Jones rolled his eyes beside him, not even attempting to protest his inclusion in the other blond's potential punishment.

"Good," Miller said. There was one last size-up, one last inspection of Hunter's worth, just a few seconds of time and then Miller was striding past Hunter, Burke on his heels and Jones following with an exasperated sigh. Henderson gave his shoulder one last squeeze, maybe camaraderie, maybe comfort, before leaving, and Dellario sent him a thumbs up and a bright smile.

Jones was the only one that looked back before they disappeared out of view, still concerned to see that Hunter – Struthers - remained standing. Hunter responded with a small wave and a smile, whatever meager efforts he could make to show his support, and then the Silver Guardians were out of sight.

It would probably be the last time Hunter ever saw them.

The fact that the crimson ranger already missed them was something he had come to accept long before they parted. Despite that sadness, however small it was, he still felt that he was better off because of it.

…that had to be Shane's fault. All that being-in-touch with himself crap the red ranger made him do, clearly that was to blame. The skater would be so proud.

Later, of course.

He could only be proud if Hunter made it through this in marginally one piece.

Easier said than done.

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Between Justin and Trip all keyboards, monitors, and other various equipment were saved from the building's sudden rumble, the familiar foreshadowing of a full-scale attack looming in the not so distant future.

Wes didn't think, didn't bother checking on the techs in the corner as he strode to the window, Andros and Carter following right behind him. "Justin, can that thing monitor all of our radio channels?" the blond asked, nodding to the computer but keeping eyes focused on the hordes of crouching black minions pouring through the streets of Silver Hills. The sight bore an uncomfortably close resemblance to Ransik's last attack, the big one, the one that almost cost him his life.

"Easily," Justin replied, no question in his tone, simply informative.

_Smart kid_.

Then again, Justin was a ranger long before Wes was, so that thought was remarkably unnecessary. It was not a surprise; it was to be expected.

"Good," Wes replied. He gave the oncoming attack a final look before turning back towards the other rangers, most of them already watching him expectantly.

That was right; this was his rodeo. His town, his call for backup, his show to run.

_Peachy_.

"Angela," he said, not entirely sure where he was going but having a good enough idea of where to start. "You're on coordination duty. Monitor the incoming reports from the Silver Guardians; once you find out where their heavy hitters are, contact the closest ranger team."

"So what are we doing?" Rocky asked.

"The plan's simple," Wes replied. "We already split Silver Hills into quadrants before, just go towards the areas you were searching earlier and take care of the battle that finds you first."

"Divide and conquer?" Andros clarified, allowing a small nod to show his support of this plan.

"Basically," Wes said. "Trip and Justin, you're with me."

Strangely enough, no one stopped to argue with Wes' strategy, which had to indicate _some_ form of insanity on their part because Wes wasn't a General. Heck, _Jen_ had been the one to lead Time Force, not him, and usually Wes had Eric to work with when it came to formulating methods of attack for attempted invasions. Why _should_ they trust Wes? Rocky had been a ranger longer. And so had Carter, and so had Andros (who actually had a full-on _war_ under his belt).

And yet, no one disagreed, no one questioned him; they simply got down to business, leaving to collect their teammates and head out, or in Angela's case hooking up a Silver Guardian's radio into her impromptu command center, Justin and Trip helping her out with last minute adjustments before they had to move out.

Wes hoped it was because deep down they knew this was the best option; that they had to go out and fight and hope that the current team, that Ninja Storm, would be able to fix the real cause behind this. Until then, all the veterans could do was buy them time.

It was the only logical reason.

At least, it was the only logical reason that wouldn't make Wes want to hyperventilate in his own little corner.

So clearly, it was the only reason.

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Endnotes:

Alright, so things are heating up! We'll be reaching the climactic climax soon and I don't know about you folks, but I'm excited for it.

The Guardians finally make their exit, to your relief or disappointment, but this isn't the last of them. They're just taking a time out while everyone else gets to play. You know, like the _rest_ of the Ninja Storm team. Those guys.

Thanks to Heaven's Archer and Ms. Fairweather for reviewing the last chapter! I'm glad you enjoyed it and, as always, I appreciate your comments.

Until next time :)


	13. Who Lives In A Pineapple Under the Sea?

Chapter 13

Who Lives In A Pineapple Under the Sea?

Just, the purest love and thanks for my beta, the real vampire, for giving this chapter the critical eye. Many a misplaced word and awkward sentence structure has been rectified due to your diligence. In short: awesomesauce madam, you have much of it. If you guys are looking for some good Ninja Storm reading, you should hit up her story "My Brother's Keeper" or, if angsty slash goodness is more your speed, "A Place Without Exception". Regrets, you will have none.

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"Is it just me-" Blake yelled over the din of panicked citizens and minor explosions going off around them. "-or is this thing faster than last time?!"

"Maybe Lothor went for an upgrade!" Dustin's offer sounded mildly strained, even after being processed through the speakers and voice filter, which just went to show how truly hectic things were becoming.

"Quality _and_ quantity," Blake spat, risking a quick glance behind them to confirm that yes, their Doompot was still hot on their tail. "Not the most ideal circumstances."

And that was an understatement if ever there was one.

Blake's original plan had been to utilize their greater agility to hide away somewhere so Dustin could retrieve the Quantum Defender, but to this point every trick, maneuver, and desperate press for speed had been steadfastly ignored by the monster behind them. The navy ranger had taken to stubbornly clinging to his frustration in order to ignore the slow feeling of dread creeping in the back of his mind, the implications of the monster's improvements drawing dangerously close to Lothor's ruthless and utter competence. The bastard was an opportunist, they all knew that, and if he had noticed- and Blake had to face the fact that a grand reunion of veteran Power Rangers was probably something worth noticing - then Lothor would have probably spared no expense to make himself as powerful as he could while the chance was still available. It was the smart thing to do.

It was also the very thing Blake had been dreading since the moment they discovered the other rangers those two hours ago, and only the fact that he and Hunter had conditioned themselves for extreme adaptability kept Blake from falling apart right there.

Dramatic, sure, but there was just a chance…just, the smallest possibility, that the team had not been entirely forthcoming about what had happened in the original Doompot's…well, pot.

To be honest, there wasn't much _to_ remember. It had been more like a deep sleep than anything else; one moment Blake had been spitting curses, heart pounding as he saw Tori getting sucked away into nowhere and the next second he was free, landing awkwardly as the others fell to the ground around him, Dustin off in the distance, already tucking away a weapon Blake would later come to know as the Quantum Defender.

It wasn't until later, when the dreams came in, that Blake realized that something was wrong.

They came in flashes. Darkness, that muddled fog of sleep, of a brain not fully cooperating, just simple things, and then he'd feel it. Through the haze, through the invisible weight that pressed unceasingly against his body, keeping him trapped yet somehow comforted, Blake could feel his power slowly trickling away. It wasn't much, at first. Could have been mistaken for simple loss of feeling, his fingers falling asleep because they had held still for so long, but there was no denying the blatant disconnection with his powers, the lightening he could not feel, his morpher-

They were not pleasant dreams...or flashbacks, whatever. Blake had assumed they were a result of stress. Guilt, perhaps, a contributing factor. But then he realized he was not the only one waking up suddenly with startled fits in the middle of the night.

Hunter had tried to deny it; claimed it was a one time deal, that it was natural, that bad dreams happened, but Blake knew better. Knew after a brief consultation with Cyber Cam that Hunter's dreams had been just as regular as his and what was worse, Cam had been encountering the same sleeping troubles.

It was a quiet meeting, scheduled when Dustin was definitely at the track, practicing tricks. It hadn't taken much for all of them to crack; a few suspicious looks, some guilt, and the resolute bags beneath their eyes being enough of a give away to confirm what none of them had wanted to talk about. To put it in perspective, to bring them comfort by labeling boundaries, Cam had been with one to summarize it all.

Turned out, Doompot hadn't been intended to lock them away and he wasn't just…energy resistant. He absorbed it all, like a sponge, Cam had explained, and then, when they were weak and tired and he had a better lock on each individual's energy signatures he would assimilate them, into his pot, until he could drain them of all of their energy.

That was the main reason Dustin had managed to escape. The team had been in a more industrial part of town, not very many trees or earth to do battle with, so the yellow ranger had resorted to using his Lion Hammer the most. The rest of them had used actual energy attacks; Shane with his Hawk Blaster, Tori with the Sonic Fin and the rest of them with actual elemental attacks (Cam going so far as to use pure energy, using his samurai sword in gold mode). They had practically been feeding this guy exactly what he needed to win.

And if it wasn't for Dustin, he would have.

The Quantum Defender had worked because Doompot hadn't been prepared to absorb that kind of energy. Because of that, the only option then was for it to act as a freakin' weapon was _supposed_ to and shoot the guy, blowing him to high hell and freeing the rest of the team from captivity.

It had taken a few days for them to get back to full power. Dustin had been too ecstatic by their return to notice it but it was, if they wanted to be honest, the bare truth.

Doompot had done way more damage than merely shaking their confidence. He had given Lothor's next few monsters more bite than they should have; leaving all of them drained and tired enough to accidentally set off a mild catastrophe in Silver Hills.

They had delivered Lothor the perfect opportunity to gain power and Blake…

Was goddamn _pissed_.

Lothor didn't get to trick the navy ranger into doing his dirty work for him anymore; that was a bitter vow he and Hunter had made long ago which they'd never compromise. Which they never _wanted_ to be compromised. Lothor was the scum, and now veteran teams, teams who _had_ to be very powerful, where going to get caught up in his play for ultimate power.

And it was their damn fault.

Blake could only hope that Shane and Tori would show up soon with zord reinforcements. If these things got big, Blake wanted to be prepared. It would also be kind've nice to have some other people to help clean up this slight mess they made, be a strong voice of reason in the never ending storm of pure crazy, and Blake would take what he could get.

Because odds were, Tori was not going to be pleased about just a _few_ of the happenings he had allowed to occurred.

Neither would Shane.

Or Cam.

…On second thought, maybe it would be better if they just handled this on their own. You know, to build character.

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"Happy thoughts, happy thoughts, happy thoughts…" Hunter was chanting - more like painfully exhaling - because hell, why not. He already recognized the grandiose amount of dumb shit they had accomplished the past couple of days, what was a little more. It wasn't like _not_ conserving his breath was actually hurting him…at least, not in a mental sense. It helped to have something to hold his focus on and his steady mantra, while costly to exert, kept his attention away from other things; like the way his ribs throbbed with every step he took, the air heaving out his throat as his feet jarred against the ground, how much closer he felt to collapsing than fighting. Stress, stress and…no, just more stress, and pain, were not helping him, but he needed to keep moving. Had to get out of view of the Bio Labs cameras before he could suit up and join the fight.

On the bright side, morphing would at least take the edge off his pain. Adrenaline would do the rest and it wouldn't be until later, when the battle was over, that the blond would get around to the actual business of passing out. It would be very satisfying, he was sure, because that meant he wouldn't be conscious and there was so much of Hunter, just, the entirety of his being, that didn't feel like being aware of his circumstances anymore. There was no way for him to properly describe this want. And if he valued his sanity, he probably shouldn't try.

The _'Happy thoughts'_ chanting was steadily replaced with the internal echoes of _"Left, right, left, right"_ when Hunter's energy began to dip and breath could no longer be wasted on raising his disposition. Keeping one foot in front of the other was the new priority now and he was so close, so close to getting a block away.

It had been a stupidly tedious exercise, locating an unused route for him to vacate Bio Labs. Most of the exits were swarming with people, Silver Guardians and regular workers alike, all getting equipped or mobile and all of them serious, eyes sharp for anything out of order. Hunter being an out-of-breath, obviously injured, semi-limping guy would have had his sorry ass sent right back to medical if caught under any of their eyes, so he had waited, patiently; sneaking into a less-used part of the building, free of Guardians, to finally locate a way out.

It must have been for office workers, or something, and they either had the day off or made a mass decision to play hooky, because it was deserted. It was clean, indicating routine basic maintenance, and well lit, so it obviously wasn't just a part of the building they had closed down because it was no longer sufficiently shiny or…whatever qualities Bio Labs was looking for in its offices.

Ultimately it was irrelevant, so Hunter didn't bother dwelling on it. The way was clear, he had found a way out, and _now_ he just had to make it through a mostly abandoned parking lot, across the street, and duck into some hidden alleyway so that he could get out there and find his brother and Dustin.

It figured that he hadn't even made it _out_ of the parking lot before he saw a ranger get blasted off his feet off in the distance, rolling to a stop, smack in the middle of the street Hunter needed to be on the other side of, with that pain in the ass Doompot hovering above him, looking for all the world that he was victorious.

Were Hunter any less tired, he would gladly waste a moment processing his guilt, aggravation, and mild horror at the rejuvenation of what was decidedly one of his least-favorite foes.

But he kind've had shit to do, so he pushed the insistent questions of _why_ and _how_ aside and got down to business, because that was his job.

_Screw it_, Hunter thought as he ducked in between two large, non-Silver Guardian issue SUVs. _I didn't see any cameras pointed this way_.

He _had_ just been trying to play it safe, but if Doompot wanted to go for round two, Hunter was ready for him.

Ready, willing, and refusing to back down from a fight.

Regardless of what common sense dictated.

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Wes tried to ignore how easily the monster, one of frustratingly many, had hurled Justin across the road, tossing the Blue Turbo ranger like he was nothing. It was an admirable notion, but one that was ultimately ignored as he and Trip tried to lay down some cover fire, give the other teen enough time to get back to his feet.

The reports weren't good, not from any of the teams. Henchman- no, Kelzaks, that's what Adam had called them – were swarming everything. Like most minions they weren't very powerful on their own, but in mass they were producing some pretty unpleasant damage and were really doing a number on all of the rangers' stamina. As was intended.

The monster they were fighting now was a breed of its own, not quite like any Wes had previously faced. It had all the qualities of a General - extra speed, strength, and endurance - but was obviously not in that paygrade. An enhanced monster, that's what it was, waiting in the wings for a full on invasion, and if Wes had to take his best guess at it, he would say that this was Lothor's commentary on an old ranger reunion. Smart. And also probably why Tommy had only called in the red rangers for the Serpentera mission. Suddenly his choice was looking less like color favoritism and more a legitimate exercise of caution.

There were still a few rangers that would happily argue that point but still, the fact remained; there _was_ some reason for the selection.

"Angela, I need a status update." Wes ran into the monster's line of vision and hit it with another barrage from his Chrono Blaster, distracting it so Trip could pull Justin back to regroup. "Do we have any idea of exactly how many of these things there are?"

The voice on the other end of the line sounded stressed but somehow held together, coolly delivering information in a clear and concise way.

"_I've got four confirmed battles going on with ranger teams. Including yours, the Lost Galaxy team is near the city's outskirts, Andros and his team near the clock tower, and Lightspeed Rescue is working downtown. Guardian foot patrols are taking care of the Kelzaks, and there's the possibility of another-"_

She cut off with an aggravated sound, which was all that Wes could pay attention to before he was ducking and weaving again, pulling off some ridiculous acrobatics to get out of the monster's reach.

"_Two more_," Angela murmured, typing furiously as she attempted to locate rangers that could be spared to deal with them. "_I'm trying to figure out who's closest, but it looks like there's no end to these things."_

"Any luck finding a weakness?" Wes asked, hopeful, but still trying to be realistic. He doubted much had changed since he had asked just a few minutes ago.

"_Nothing_," Angela replied, her tone enough to describe just how frustrated _all_ of them felt by that fact. _"It seems like they're immune to just about all of your attacks."_

"It feels like he's taunting us."

It was, blatantly, but the longer the fight drew on the more Wes couldn't help but feel this was just some kind of trap. But what the monster was waiting for, what it was trying to accomplish, Wes didn't know.

"_I'll keep running the numbers here," _Angela promised, determination overriding her previous agitation. _"I'll let you know the moment we figure something out Wes; just keep up the good fight._"

"Will do," Wes replied. And then, before he could lose his nerve, and the opportunity, he asked, "Have you heard anything from Lucas yet?"

The blond had already tried contacting the blue ranger over the private Time Force line, but either the other man was busy, or he wasn't feeling particularly fond of Wes.

Or _worse_ things were happening.

Being the genius that she was, Angela saw through the question easily and there was a smile in her voice when she answered. _"Eric and the others are still unaccounted for. Probably got too caught up in fighting to bother checking in."_

"But when they do…" Wes prompted, deciding to go for broke anyway, since they were going to be so transparent about this. He was too worried to feel embarrassed by it and besides, Eric was one of his teammates, it was reasonable for him to be worried.

Yes…teammates. Wes was just being a good teammate.

"_I'll let you know_." And there was a kindness in her tone that probably couldn't be afforded right now, but she spared it for him anyway, and Wes was grateful. That was one less thing he had to worry about.

"Thank you," Wes said, not even attempting to hide his overwhelming gratitude. "It's just with all this-"

"_I'm gonna have to cut you off Wes."_ Angela sounded distracted and slightly apologetic in one, but she must have just caught onto something important, because she didn't feel bad for cutting him off either way. _"I'm getting an incoming transmission."_

"Okay, will you update me-"

The line was dead before he could finish his sentence, but Wes was smart enough not to worry. She would get back to him if it was important and besides, he wasn't the only one on the battlefield that needed information. Being up-to-date was a comfort, and there were other teams out there that needed Angela's help.

It was probably for the best, as at that exact moment the monster had gotten tired of Wes' fancy footwork and decided to shake things up with a minor explosion, catapulting the red ranger down the street with some ungraceful and very, _very_ painful tumbles. He rolled to a stop just in time for Trip and Justin to haul him out of the way, latching onto his arms with a well-aimed grapple and charging across the road, away from further explosions.

"This thing is kicking our butts," Justin grumbled, favoring his right side a little too much for Wes' liking. "I'm not even sure with a full team we could do any real damage."

"Well we have to do _something_," Trip insisted, peppering the area around the monster's feet with a few blasts of his own, buying them time. "We can't just sit back and let it destroy the city."

"It isn't after the city; it's after you guys."

The fact that Wes hadn't even heard anyone wander up behind him was enough to give himself whiplash as he jerked his head to the side; Trip and Justin mimicking him with similarly ungraceful jolts. For the most part, the ranger behind them didn't seem all that phased by their startled reactions, or if he was the response was completely contained to his face, undistinguishable beneath his helmet.

Justin was the first one to recover, shifting his quick turn into two strides forward, lurching into the new ranger's - of the Ninja Storm team - personal space.

"_Finally_," the blue ranger snarled. "Do you know how long I've been trying to-?"

The new guy was faster than he looked, much faster, which might explain the heightened speed of Mr. Mean-and-Destructive over in the distance, and whatever the rest of Justin's statement was got cut off as the crimson ranger barreled into him, going from still to full speed in a nanosecond, knocking both of them off to the side.

Of course, Wes only glimpsed about the first fraction of the movement before Trip was doing the same to him, because despite being the youngest on the Time Force team, Trip was very sharp and constantly aware and had kept one eye on the monster after taking in the new ranger. A smart move. One that helped keep Wes' body intact as the monster landed with a ground shaking _thwack_, leaving a sizable dent in the concrete where they had previously been standing.

"We'll have to save the introductions for later," the new guy said, one arm around Justin's shoulders, steadying him without question. "We kind've have other things to deal with."

"What the _hell_ is going on?" Justin spat, moving deftly out of reach as the crimson ranger prompted him to, all of them weaving around the new monster, keeping it engaged without actually attacking. "And what do you mean it wants us?"

If there was a way to shrug while easily dodging, the crimson ranger managed it. "You, your energy; you know, stuff like that."

"Is that why it's so powerful?" Trip asked, barely jumping out of the way as one of the monster's arms came whirling in his direction. "Is that what happened to your teammates?"

"Sort of, and no," the crimson ranger replied. "That's a different story; this guy-"

"_Incoming call to all ranger teams,_" Angela's voice rang loud and confident in his ear. _"Kai and Zhane have made contact with the Samurai ranger. They're getting updated on the situation as we speak."_

"…aaand, you guys are no longer listening to me, are you?" the crimson ranger asked, already knowing the answer, and Trip made what could have been a sympathetic wave in his direction.

"Sorry," the green ranger replied. "We just got a call in from HQ. One of your teammates, the…sam-something-"

"Samurai," the crimson ranger supplied, biting out the name with barely concealed aggravation.

Trip, being the king of missing social cues, didn't pick up on it. "That's the one!" he cheered.

"Is there something wrong with your teammate?" Justin asked, not hindered Trip's obliviousness.

The crimson ranger shrugged and dodged out of the way, going in close so he could start herding the monster towards a more open area, for better maneuverability. "Just that he's partially responsible for this whole mess."

It was at this point Wes realized that everything he had picked up from the newest ranger had been from his external sensors, not the internal radios. The crimson fighter's comm. link was down, which explained why no one had been able to contact the Ninja Storm team.

Must be a result of the blocked morphers.

"Are there more of these things?!" the crimson ranger yelled, completing yet another flip with less grace than before, almost stumbling as he landed.

_Damn_, looked like he was injured too.

"Six in counting, scattered throughout the city!" Wes replied, yanking Trip out of the way just as one of the monster's arms got a little too close for comfort.

He did not imagine any of the frustration in the new ranger's voice when he responded, spitting out a bitter curse as he dodged a minor explosion. _"Shit. Shitshitshitshit__**shit**_._"_

"I'm gonna go out on a limb here and assume that's _not_ good," Justin summarized, sarcasm mixed with his pent up aggravation to form a biting cocktail.

The crimson ranger must have understood where he was coming from, because he didn't rise to the bait, keeping his focus on the mission instead. "That would be a horrific understatement. Just one of those things kicked our ass; if there're _six_, even _more_ powerful than before-"

"We get it; things are bad," Wes interrupted, trying to cut him off before the doom and gloom prophecies could begin to unfold. With two injured rangers and dwindling energy, they needed what little they had, optimism included, to push through this battle. "You've fought this thing before?"

"Kind've," the crimson ranger replied, sounding harried.

This answer didn't sit well with Justin. "What do you mean-?"

"Do you know how to beat it?" Wes asked, cutting the Turbo Ranger off with more important questions. Time was beginning to be of the essence here; they didn't really have time to dally on semantics.

"I'm not sure." The frustration was audible over the quiet gasps making their way through the crimson ranger's voice filter. "I can tell you how we beat it, but-"

"This has something to do with the Quantum Defender, doesn't it?" Looked like Justin was getting a little tired of waiting for his answers, already putting together the pieces to form a neat little picture. "And energy? None of our attacks seem to be doing anything to it."

Which was something none of had vocalized up to this point, but each of them had acknowledged it. That was why the street surrounding the monster was more damaged than the actual attacker, because their energy blasts were only good for distracting it, or tripping it up, or shooting at _other_ things to hit it. Direct assaults themselves were just ignored.

Which was why Wes assumed it was just wearing them down.

"It's like a sponge," the crimson ranger explained, leaping over a car and aiming a flying kick at the monster's face, ducking out of range before it could return the favor. "It just absorbs your energy. And then, when it's got a good lock on you, it absorbs you into that fancy pot on his back to finish the job. Originally-" and he was getting too cocky for Wes' comfort, taking risks and compensating for the rest of their slower speeds when he shouldn't be. "-I mean, the first guy we fought, _**that**_ Doompot was designed specifically for the Ninja Storm Powers. That's why we had to borrow the Quantum Defender. It wasn't prepared to deal with that."

"But now?" Wes prompted, ignoring his mind's cynical response of _'Borrowed?'_ in favor of focusing on the present, his energy slowly seeping away.

During a second of downtime the crimson ranger turned towards him, weary for just that one moment, before taking off again. "Now it looks like Lothor's fixed _that_ little problem."

"So it's just going to keep absorbing our energy then?" Justin asked; so angry, so visibly frustrated. "And there's nothing we can do about it?"

"Not until we figure out a new plan."

"I've got to call this in," Wes murmured, refusing to allow a moment of silence for any doom to settle over them like an uncomfortable cloud, waiting to suck them under. "We've got enough rangers here to make at least six teams. Between all of us we're sure to figure _something_ out."

Justin stumbled back beside him, knocked back a few feet from the after-effects of the monster's- of the _Doompot's_ attacks, and nodded, pure determination echoing through that one small motion.

"Damn right we will."

"Sounds like a plan then," the crimson ranger said, and he let loose a string of lightening, bright enough to momentarily blind all of them. "You guys do that," he started in a voice that Wes was all too familiar with as one that led to bad ideas; he had hung around enough foolhardy rangers to figure _that_ one out. "And I'll take decoy duty," the fighter continued, spinning his staff in one hand dangerously, staring down Doompot. "Buy you some time to consult."

Wes reached out for him, knowing from experience that physical contact helped negate bad plans more than mere words alone. "Don't you dare-"

"Hey ugly!" The voice was mildly strained when the crimson ranger shouted, strolling out of Wes' reach with an arrogant swagger as he hefted his staff into his other hand, pointing it at the monster. "You still good at follow the leader?"

"Don't, _crimson_; we'll do this-"

More lightening, falling from the sky in a disorganized stream, surrounding the monster until it knocked it clean off its feet (and how much did that cost him, Wes wondered; how much could he possibly have left to _run-_) with an irritated snarl.

"That's it!" the monster crowed, lumbering to its feet slowly, focus entirely on the crimson ranger. "I've had it!"

"Well, that makes about two of us." The taunt was casual, too casual for the circumstances and Wes was gonna kill him, don't think he wouldn't, because he would _not_ sit back and just watch this kid- had to be- set himself up for destruction.

The Time Force Ranger turned towards him, Chrono Blaster aimed at the monster in the distance, preparing to remind it that there were others who would be more than _happy_ to fight it, when the crimson ranger continued talking, voice lower, aimed specifically at Wes.

"Just inform the others," he murmured, voice calm but too out of breath, enough that it carried through his _and_ Wes' damn helmets and he couldn't do this, he couldn't-

But then the kid was gone, bounding off the sides of buildings in a crimson blur, shooting off a few more snide remarks behind him, and the monster disappeared with him, snarling and yelling all the way.

"So," Justin started, waiting after a moment's silence as they inspected the damaged, empty street before them. "We'd better go figure something out before that dumbass gets killed."

"Yeah," Wes exhaled with a tired sigh, agreeing as Trip chided Justin on his choice of language. "We should probably do that."

Because if _he_ was doing stupid things…

There was no telling what the others (Leo, Rocky, Joel, _Eric_) might "accidentally" get themselves into.

Sometimes…

Well, sometimes it really sucked to be the leader.

It really, really did.

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Endnotes:

Aaaaaand we have contact people! 'Ho yes, that thing that I've been teasing for almost a year now, that concept, HAS ARRIVED.

…and then it promptly ended, but still, it was there. Hunter got to have his moment!

Are we blatantly ignoring the fact that Cam has already contacted the veteran rangers?

Why yes, yes we are.

Onwards!

Many much thanks to everyone who reviewed the last chapter. Ms. Fairweather, DV2, and Heaven's Archer, you are the bomb diggedys. The Diggedy bombs. I am ever grateful for your feedback :)

…it's been kind've a long week, so I'm just going to go ahead and post this now. Enjoy :D

Until next time.


	14. A Little too Much Doom and Gloom

Chapter 14

A Little too Much Doom and Gloom and Things Going Boom

Thanks and thanks and just, a little more thanks to my beta, the real vampire, for her wonderful editing skills. There is something to be said about a brain that can figure out all the things I had intended to say but fell woefully short of actually saying, and that something is _you'rethebestthankyouforserious,you'rethebest,_ and then you insert a happy little you guys are looking for some Ninja Storm slash times, you should look into her story "A Place Without Exception". It is unfairly good.

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"Does anyone have any idea of what the _hell_ is going on?!" Eric hollered somewhere from Leo's left, hidden behind a mass of the crouched, moving henchmen.

Leo hoped it was a rhetorical question to demonstrate how preposterously fast things had escalated – one second they had a little battle in a parking garage; the next, full on minion invasion – and not a legitimate query, as it was pretty obvious the rest of them were just as confused as the Quantum Ranger. The brunette almost asked Eric to clarify anyway, just in case (and not because that would be annoying or _whatever-_) but Adam must have sensed his plan and picked up the conversation, Power Axe flashing above the crowd in the distance, only to come down again in a shocking blow.

"I tried calling the others," the Black ranger said, sending a wave of minions flying in unrefined disarray. "Angela says there're monsters popping up all over the city. Multiple copies of the same guy, by description. Immune to all of our attacks."

"Well, doesn't that just sound peachy," Leo chirped, aiming a swift kick against a minion that was creeping up behind him. He took great satisfaction in how easily the blow connected; the minion going down without a fight, but the feeling was short lived as two others happily took its place.

So that was how it was going to be then, huh?

Well, it wasn't like Leo _hadn't_ been waiting for all hell to break loose.

"This is no time for joking Sparky," Eric snapped, hand fumbling at that empty spot on his belt for what had to be the fifteenth time that day, reflex not recognizing the lack of Quantum Defender.

Not that Leo could fault him for it; it was hard to fight something that was a habit ingrained in your skull, the instinct and power of _knowing_ something should be there, just as it always had, mere second nature. Difficult to fight on a good day, let alone when you were in the middle of a minion fest, with the most adorably creepy little ninja henchmen trying to rip out your throat. It was a bit of a distraction.

Still, it was one thing to acknowledge a fact and another one to accept it and move on, and it looked like Eric was about to start wallowing in frustration again, so Leo cut back in, providing an ample diversion for the other ranger's attention.

"I'm just saying," Leo continued, keeping his tone light and jovial. "I think we're good enough to rank a monster of our own. Why are we stuck with just henchmen?"

"Maybe they knew you were here and thought better of it," Lucas offered dryly, in a way that suggested this had less to do with Leo's fighting prowess and more to do with his personality.

"If that were the case, then we could just use Leo to clear out the city," Adam added, an amused undertone in his words (because if anyone could multitask, it was that guy).

"No first names," Eric chided, not caring his lecture was aimed a more experienced ranger. "Watch what you say Black."

"Understood," Adam replied, tone still light.

Leo had to give the Quantum ranger this; despite the fact the streets had been deserted by civilians awhile ago, it was nice that he still put up the effort to keep secret identities secret. Not allowing them to fall into bad habits was a good thing.

Maybe a little too paranoid, given the circumstances, but a good thing.

"I'm gonna call in the Guardians!" Eric shouted, deftly hopping over the roof of a car before dropping out of sight. "The patrols are used to fighting off these low-powered guys!"

"And then we can go after the bigger fish," Lucas finished coolly, sounding remarkably composed considering the fact he had just gotten bowled onto the street by a trio of minions.

Looked like they were organizing.

_Well, __**that's**__ not good._

"Do it," Adam ordered, redundant perhaps because Eric was already on top of things, but it wasn't his fault. They had decided the moment they had left the parking garage that the Ninjetti ranger was the unofficial leader of their little squad; his duties including looking after their psychological welfare and doing things like reassuring them with definite orders. Mostly because it would be much easier on the rest of them. Eric refused to lead and really, it was better for all of them if Leo didn't take command, not if they desired harmonious rulings, so Adam had been bumped to the top of the list due to seniority.

Lucas himself had been entirely unhelpful during the affair, only standing back with what was probably a stupid smirk underneath that helmet of his.

"So what's the next step?" Leo asked, taking a quick breather as he moved to stand back-to-back with Lucas, letting the blue ranger take care of the minions with his over-compensating gun. "Once these guys are occupied, do we go looking for monsters?"

"We need a plan," Lucas said, voice steady despite the massive pulses from his cannon thing, rocking back against his torso. "We need to get organized."

"What we _need_ is to figure out what these damn things _want_," Eric groused – and yes, he must have reached for the missing Quantum Defender again because he sounded just especially pissed.

"What I want is simple, Ranger," an ominous voice drawled from behind them, weighed down with doom and gloom and no- there could _not_ have been a better cue for Mr. Big-and-Bad to enter. Leo was willing to bet this guy was feeling remarkably proud of himself for managing to work that out so nicely.

They turned as one, as much as they could while still occupied with foot soldiers, and there, having just landed not-so-far down the street, was a monster of their very own.

Aside from the voice, Leo would say he wasn't very intimidating to look at. Honestly, when your fashion statement of choice was to strap a gigantic jar onto your back, you were just asking for people not to take you seriously. He looked like a freakin' _turtle_.

A cute, maniacal, seeker-of-evil-and-destruction kind of turtle.

Mildly adorable.

But that was just Leo's opinion.

"What I want," the monster continued. "Is your _power_."

"_Boo_," Lucas chided underneath his breath. "He loses ten points for unoriginality."

"What the hell else is new?" Eric grumbled, not even paying the minion attacking him any attention, merely delivering a swift punch to its face while he kept his helmet turned towards the monster, sizing it up.

Because baby, it was _fighting_ time. Or, you know, fight the _villain_ time.

There was a distinct difference.

"Alright," Leo felt a grin spreading across his face as he took in the monster swaggering towards them. "Who's ready for a fight?"

"I'm taking ten points from _you_ for rhyming," Lucas murmured, preparing for the assault beside him. An SUV pulled out from one of the side streets – to prove that good guys had perfect timing too – and the Silver Guardians decided to join in the brawl, taking care of the minions so the rangers could focus on the big guy.

Awfully nice of them.

"But it was unintentional," Leo whined, bumping his shoulder against Lucas'.

"How will you learn, if I do not punish?"

Leo turned to grin at him, not caring that the other ranger couldn't see his expression, and prepared a sufficient counter-snark.

One that was immediately cut off by Eric. "The funny thing is you think he'll _learn_."

Lucas shrugged. "It's worth a shot."

"I learn things," Leo replied, taking some mild offense to this. "Maybe you're just not offering the right _compensation_."

He finished this off with a suggestive head tilt towards Eric, making a show of checking the other ranger out, and despite the distance, he could hear the aggravated grumble this incited.

"I think I can live with that," Eric muttered, and if Leo didn't know better, he would say the Quantum Ranger sounded a little embarrassed.

But…nope. Nope. He was just grumpy. Leo's mind dared not think beyond those safely established parameters.

"Focus people," Adam ordered, voice quiet but demanding. He was the last to make it to their lineup, Power Axe resting against his shoulder, helmet focused down the street, on the monster that was _still_ somehow advancing.

"_Man_ this street is long," Leo muttered, nodding as Adam's helmet tilted his way, showing he understood that was the last joke he was going to get out for now.

A monster that was immune to their attacks huh? Well, they would just have to figure something out then.

"Ready?" Adam called, pulling his axe up into a fighting position, preparing for a charge.

Leo readjusted his grip on his Quasar Saber and nodded, falling into the familiar routine of echoing back, bracing himself for the attack.

"Ready," he echoed; Lucas' and Eric's voice joining his easily.

And after that, it was pretty much like any other fight.

…hopefully.

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"So…" Dustin eventually started, breaking the strained silence that had fallen over them as he and Blake observed the proceedings on the street below them. "Do you think he'll be _more_ angry after getting sucked into an alternate dimension, or do you think his anger like, maxed out after the stolen weapon and house-damage thing? Because there has to be a maximum amount of anger right? He's probably hit it by now."

When Blake didn't answer they fell back into silence. The Navy Ranger hoped, because _why not_, that the veteran rangers in the distance would be smart enough not to use any energy attacks.

It would only be insult to injury for them to get drained of power because Blake had accidentally led a Doompot _right towards them_.

It had not been one of his finer strategies for evasive maneuvers. But in his defense, he didn't think there would be anything else that would capture the Doompot's attention, seeing as he and Dustin had made such a tantalizing offering.

Clearly he had overestimated how important they were. That was embarrassing.

And also, _really_?

"It's not your fault," Dustin continued, because he had dealt with both Bradley brothers enough to be able to guess the kind of disparaging thoughts Blake was unloading onto himself. "We were just trying to get out of sight for a few minutes."

"We're supposed to be aware of our surroundings," Blake muttered, sounding petulant even to his own ears.

If the yellow ranger caught it, he didn't say anything, instead giving a half-hearted shrug. "Nothing we can do about it now."

_No_, Blake thought. _I suppose there isn't_.

Despite wanting to waste a few seconds pondering just how stupidly _worse_ this day could get, how much further things could devolve, Blake took a deep breath and tried to center himself.

_In through the nose…out through the mouth…_

It was show time.

"Alright," he began, deciding to take charge of the situation. "It's time for damage control."

"Should we go down and help them?" Dustin offered, Lion Hammer up and at the ready, prepared for an assault.

"_I'll_ go down there," Blake countered, ignoring the way Dustin puffed up, beginning to protest this decision. "_You_," Blake continued, watching as the yellow ranger stilled, realizing his lack of involvement came from his own specific task. "Find a safe place to power down and get the Quantum Defender. And call Shane, if you can; give him an update."

Dustin nodded, hammer coming to rest at his side, helmet giving a definite bob to show he understood. "You got it B."

He disappeared in a blur of yellow, bounding down to weave in between alleys, probably off in search for an abandoned building, leaving Blake alone.

Unwillingly, he flashed back to the last moment this had been the case, to his so-well-intended gun returning of this morning, right before he had blown a hole in Eric Meyer's house.

He really hoped that this time the results of this particular isolation would be a little more favorable.

He sincerely doubted they would, but hell, it didn't mean he couldn't hope for it.

After all, he was kind've used to being let down by simple things like wishes.

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Blake was going to kill him.

Blake was going to kill him and then _Shane_ was going to kill him and then Cam, out of _spite_, would find a way to bring Hunter back just so that Tori could get in on the Bradley-murdering times, and then the tech would do it again just so Hunter would have to sit under the heavy stare of Dustin's woeful puppy eyes, bringing on the guilt since 1986.

And then Cam would promptly murder Hunter, because there was no way he would miss out on the fun.

That was just how the future was going to go. Hunter didn't like it, but at this point, he was just going to accept the inevitable.

That being a whole lot of killings.

Of course, Hunter would only get to suffer through those murders if he managed to escape Doompot, _this_ Doompot, entirely in one piece, as opposed to the broken wreck of a human being that was threatening to be his immediate future because holy hell, this Doompot was _pissed_.

He was really sensitive, now that Hunter gave it some thought. His taunts weren't that biting and he hadn't even _begun_ insulting the thing's mother. Fortunately for him, because the Doompot seemed to be fiery enough all on its own. Maybe it was a side effect of the multiple copies, like a defect. Like Lothor couldn't keep the quality up all-around when he started mass-producing. Which was just a _lovely_ thought. Seriously, the sales slogan for these guys had to be a villain's dream.

_Faster, stronger, and even more unstable than before; just buy __**one**__ Doompot and he'll destroy half of humanity __**for**__ you._

Sure, it probably wouldn't be an attractive option to the more hands-on kind of evil-doer, who preferred to desecrate and pillage himself, thanks, but for an instant-gratification sort of guy Hunter could understand the appeal.

As the crimson ranger darted down into an alleyway, Doompot hot on his trail, he vaguely noted that there was just a _chance_ the pain in his chest had finally gone to his head, impairing his putting-thoughts-together business. Or focus…that was it, his _focus_. It could be true, but Hunter felt that it was reasonable to want to distract himself even in this supposedly "dire" situation. Just, keep his attention on the little things, and manage those. Or maybe it was to _distract_ himself from the little things with pointless things…he wasn't sure. He was running. He just had to remember to keep doing that. Running. He could do that.

For at least a little while longer, hopefully.

Hunter really wanted Shane to be the one to kill him. Which, as pathetic as it was, happened to be one of his more romantic thoughts. Perhaps he would share it with Shane later.

You know, after he was done murdering Hunter.

His thoughts were…fluid, flighty, Hunter decided, sort of coursing all over the place, escaping from his grasp just as he had a solid feel on them which was something - even in this state of mind – he recognized as distinctly _bad_. Eventually he might forget what he was running from, or he would stop running altogether to catch his breath, and then _boom_-

Hunter was surprised for a few stupidly long seconds, mind suspended in shock until it managed to catch up, realizing the thought in his head had somehow manifested itself physically; the _boom_ translating into a solid hit against his chest, his body, sending him catapulting to the ground in a painful heap. How far was that? Ten, fifteen feet; something of equal force because _ow_, _owowowowooooow_-

It took a few more seconds to realize that something had crashed into him, something _him_ sized, before he took in the solid view of yellow his visor was gifting him, unapologetically bright-

"Dude, Hunter!"

Oh hey, it was Dustin.

The body- Dustin- began shifting on top of him, moving off of the blond and yanking him to his feet before the crimson range could even manage a 'hello'; chatter washing over him like a comforting and familiar blanket.

"-and then he ordered me away so I could get the gun and did you learn anything? From the sneaking? Did they catch you or did my plan work, because it seemed like something that should work-"

"_RANGERS!"_

It was safe to say Hunter wasn't entirely sure what happened in the few following moments. They were all kind've a blur to him. The impressive bellow must have rocketed his feet into action he deduced, once he regained awareness of his surroundings, because he had one hand holding onto Dustin's gauntlet in a grip that was painful even for him, and they were moving across the rooftops, Doompot still shouting expletives behind them.

"Dude, that guy is _cran-ky_."

"Yeah," was all Hunter could manage to mumble back, the rest of his air too occupied with keeping his lungs filled. He didn't imagine the way Dustin's helmet jerked towards him, surprised, concerned, _whatever_, Hunter was too tired for labels, and their positions switched.

Wait, _wha-?_

Apparently Dustin wasn't going to humor him when there were major injuries on the line. The yellow ranger pulled his arm out of Hunter's grip with pathetic ease and moved in close, throwing the arm around his shoulder and grabbing onto Hunter's waist, taking as much of the crimson ranger's weight as he could. Only the fact they had trained together so often made the maneuver successful; both accustomed to the other's running that they fell in sync almost instantly, Dustin adjusting his pace for the blond.

Impressive, considering how many buildings they were bouncing off of, how aware of each other they needed to be. Sensei would be proud.

But even this was a short term solution.

Eventually Hunter would make a mistake and do something Dustin couldn't anticipate, and he would fall, or Dustin would fall and _then_ he would fall, and it would end with an easy catch for Doompot. An easy, titillating catch.

Hunter was slowing them down again.

The second shift happened with such graceful leisure that Hunter hadn't even noticed it, had been too busy keeping his feet in motion to figure out they had finally stopped. It wasn't until he felt his legs wobbling beneath him, shaking on one stable surface that he realized they were standing still, tucked away in some corner while the Doompot cackled on by, off into the distance.

So…more unbalanced _and_ less observant.

Okay, not the greatest selling points, but still workable.

Dustin waited for Hunter to catch his breath; great heaving things, gasped through an open mouth, ugly with spit and sweat, ridiculously grateful that his helmet safely hid it all from Dustin. The blond all but collapsed against his teammate, allowing the yellow ranger to get a better hold on him as they slowly lowered themselves into a sitting position.

The brunette waited until Hunter's gasping died down into slow, deep inhales, giving the crimson ranger's far arm a few comforting pats as time passed by. When Hunter was more composed he took in their surroundings, realizing that the solid weight against his back was a billboard, the brick wall to his left the building's roof access, and that the rest of his view was clouded with what he guessed were industrial sized air conditioning units.

"So…I'm going to go ahead and assume you're injured," Dustin began, seeing that Hunter had completed his inspection.

While the rest had done him some good, Hunter decided to keep his responses as short as possible, wanting to conserve air. It would be better in the long run.

Instead of replying, he nodded, then offered a question of his own. "Where's…Blake?"

"Damage control," Dustin explained, arm still draped across Hunter's shoulders, with no signs of moving. "He's spreading the word about how to beat these things to the other rangers."

Good…good; that was…that was good.

Hopefully that dumbass would stay safe.

…nope. Nope, Hunter was not processing the irony of that thought. He was _not_.

"And you?" Hunter prompted, wondering why the other two had separated.

Perhaps Dustin had been looking for more rangers to help out. If they were anything like the ones Hunter had encountered, then they were split up into smaller teams than usual.

"Trying to find a safe place to retrieve the dinosaur gun."

His voice was innocent, but Hunter suspected the brunette used the wrong name on purpose, to keep Hunter alert.

"Why didn't you…just pull it out…earlier?"

He shouldn't be focusing on the past but damnit, Hunter's brain had decided it was an important question.

If he could see Dustin's face, he was sure it would be blinking at Hunter confusedly. "Sort've pressed for time, you know? Besides, now that we've found a safe hiding place I can just power down and get it. It's not like I can just wave my hand and shout, '_Quantum Defender!'_, and expect it to-"

Show up.

Which was _exactly_ what it did.

Hunter turned his helmet towards the newly-appeared weapon in Dustin's hand, still held in front of the yellow ranger uncertainly, like he wasn't entirely positive what had just happened had _just happened_, before he slowly rolled his head to face the yellow ranger's helmet, trying to convey absolute incredulity with in one movement.

Dustin had the decency to at least appear bashful. Through his helmet. Because he was skilled like that.

"You know," Hunter began, resolutely keeping his gaze off of the legendary gun resting in his friend's hand. "I love you. But right now…"

"I hate you too?" Dustin offered, giving an apologetic shrug.

Hunter, at a loss for what to say, returned the motion tiredly. "Thanks."

He supposed it was only appropriate.

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Wes couldn't really pick a particular moment where things had taken a turn for the worse, but if he had to hazard a guess, it was probably around the same time some of the teams had stopped responding.

Regrouping had been the obvious choice once the crimson ranger had taken the Doompot monster off their hands. Justin and Trip would be put to better use brainstorming a solution than out fighting in the field anyway so Wes had set out to do just that, pulling them back towards their temporary headquarters, kicking and screaming if necessary. Justin was the only one probable to resort to such options, frustration and an abundance of adrenaline a strong persuader to stay out in the fight, but thankfully it didn't come to that. Between the two Time Force Rangers they had managed to make Justin see reason; agreeing, once his blood had settled, that his efforts were needed for a long term resolution instead of the more satisfying offensive one - the one that brought comfort in knowing you were fighting alongside others, that you had their back, and weren't holed up somewhere out of harms way.

Wes would know just _how_ difficult those feelings were to shake because he'd had to face them down himself, determined to escort Justin and Trip back to Bio Labs before going back out into the fray, helping where he could. It wasn't like he was a genius and the crimson ranger - though Wes did not know him, nor was a part of his team - he still managed to feel mildly responsible for the kid. Guilt was the most probable cause - or maybe solidarity; one red ranger to another - but the feeling still remained, insistent and strong. Wes wanted to find him, almost as badly as he wanted to find Eric (which was something he could admit now without having to shove down the feelings of anxiety that came from over attentiveness; this was an emergency situation, attention was _due_), and above all else make sure the kid hadn't been dumb enough to get himself murdered. Wes had enough hanging over his head as it was; it would be nice not to add to it.

Stress combined with fatigue combined with his senses geared towards battle alertness, every feeling, every perception heightened to the most specific degree, kept Wes antsy. His thoughts bounced between scattered and remarkably focused, depending on the second, depending on the mood that hit him. Anxiety was what kept him the most on edge, something about the situation feeling…off to him, as though the world was set a few inches apart from its intended path, traveling _just_ slightly off course, unnoticeable except to those who looked. That was what it felt like.

It wasn't like Wes had ever felt completely relaxed during a fight, but there was usually a nice sort of middle place for his mind to go, not completely zen, but like a quiet focus. He was aware of the danger but managed to be comfortable enough with both his skills and his teammates to keep a cool head, keeping the majority of his focus on the battle at hand.

He wasn't there now. He wasn't even freaking _close_ to there, more like a few distant miles away; that state of mind a blurred speck through a set of borrowed binoculars, so frustratingly faraway. It mocked him.

But the result of this was a sort of hyper-awareness. Like he knew he wasn't where he normally was so he overcompensated, taking great pain to keep up-to-date with Angela, getting status updates on the other ranger teams and the state of the deployed Guardian squads. He wouldn't second guess himself, but he knew it wouldn't hurt to put a little more thought into his choices, just…just in case. To be prepared.

It was with Bio Labs looming in the near distance that Wes decided to make another call, checking in on the Space team, sans Zhane, to see how they were holding up.

When Wes' queries were met with nothing but silence, he assumed (prayed) it was for the same reason Eric's team had yet to call in; that they were preoccupied. Based on how difficult these Doompots were, it was not terribly surprising.

But just to be safe, because Wes found that when he had peace of mind it was a lot easier to do _other_ things like fight henchmen and not have a mental breakdown in the middle of the street, he went ahead and called in to Angela. As she had the last five or so times (eleven, they both knew it was eleven, so sue him) Wes would ask for an update and then casually slip in the team he was concerned with _this_ time. Angela, being the wonderfully wise and gracious human being that she was, would helpfully check the morpher net, confirm that their signals were as strong and powerful as the _last_ time Wes had asked, and all would be well. He would put his worrying to rest, Angela would get the blond out of her hair for about ten minutes, and the world would keep turning.

It was a system. It might not be a _great_ system, but it worked for Wes, so long as Angela was willing to humor him. And based on the fact that she had married into the hectic ranger lifestyle, she understood that very little went a long way. Because Angela was a goddess, kinder beyond the likes any human being had ever known, and smart enough to figure out that a distracted ranger did not make for good world-savings. They were about as useful as paperweights.

So one could understand that, when there was a slight change in their check-in system, a prolonged pause on her end of the line after he asked about the Space team, Wes got a little worried.

Something that was more than happy to _multiply_ the moment she confirmed the thing he had been dreading, the one thing that was frightening enough to unleash another string of expletives from Justin, that had Trip muttering frantic Xybrian under his breath, and chocked the air in Wes' throat where he stood, heart dropping, feeling like the trap he had been concerned with, the misalignment of his world, the oddity, had finally sprung.

The Space team's signals had vanished from the morphing grid completely.

No radio signals, no morpher signals, no visual contact.

They were gone.

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Endnotes:

And so it begins.

What was that? An echo of _"About damn time?";_ well…

Yeah. It really is.

Thanks to everyone who reviewed the last chapter! Heaven's Archer, DV2, Ms. Fairweather, and ValkyrieNyght (long time no see), I'm looking at you cool cats. I would promise that the end is near but in all honesty…I've got no clue, none, but thank you for staying on board. I really appreciate it :)

And just, for future reference, I might be too big a fan of the Eric-Leo-Adam-Lucas quartet. There is a good chance we will see them…a lot.

Until next time :D


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